Low-Cost Thin and Flexible Screen-Printed Pressure Sensor

• Main Authors: Daniel Gräbner, Marcel Tintelott, Gerrit Dumstorff, Walter Lang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2017-08-01
• Series: Proceedings
• Subjects: flexible electronics; pressure sensor; screen-printing; surface functionalization; material integrated sensing
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2504-3900/1/4/616

Commercial pressure sensors are often fabricated using well-established silicon micromachining technologies. The thickness and stiffness of silicon-based sensors make them in most cases unsuitable for the integration into materials and surfaces. We present a flexible pressure sensor fabricated by printing technology. Therefore, an intrinsically pressure sensitive ink is screen printed on interdigital electrodes on a thin and flexible foil substrate. The sensor shows sufficient sensitivity and is applicable in a wide pressure range from 0 to 2 MPa. The sensor can completely be fabricated using a low-cost screen printing process. It is very thin and flexible, making it possible to be applied on curved surfaces or to be integrated into materials in a minimal invasive way.