High-sensitivity crack-based flexible strain sensor with dual hydrogen bond-assisted structure for monitoring tiny human motions and writing behavior

Owing to their ultrahigh sensitivity, crack-based flexible strain sensors have garnered considerable attention in recent years. In this study, a practical, and reliable chemical bonding-based dip-coating method is proposed to fabricate high sensitivity and high stability crack-based flexible strain sensor with dual hydrogen bond-assisted structure. The strain sensor has a sandwich structure, which is composed of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs)/poly (sodium-p-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) conductive layer, ultra-violet (UV) adhesive substrate layer, and UV adhesive covering layer. The fabrication process, principle of dual hydrogen bond-assisted structure, strain sensing mechanism, and various properties of the proposed sensor are examined. It is demonstrated that the cracks and the dual hydrogen bond-assisted structure facilitate a practical strain sensor with high sensitivity (gauge factor of 19.65 in the strain range of 0–30%), long-term stability (over 10,000 cycles), good linearity, negligible drift, fast response time (~50 ms), and low detection limit (0.10%). Meanwhile, the proposed crack-based flexible strain sensor can be used as a wearable device, which can be directly mounted on human skin to monitor tiny human motions and writing behavior. Consequently, it exhibits immense potential for wearable applications including artificial skin, human-machine interfaces, and medical healthcare.