Flexible sensor, preparation method and use method thereof
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of sensing, in particular to a flexible sensor, a preparation method and a use method thereof.
Background
With the development of flexible electronics and wearable devices, stress sensors are receiving increasing attention.
Conventional pressure sensors can be categorized into piezoelectric, capacitive, piezoresistive, and the like. The piezoelectric pressure sensor is a sensor manufactured according to the piezoelectric effect, has the advantages of simple structure, good repeatability, higher precision, good sensitivity, wide dynamic range, excellent mechanical property and the like, but has the defects of complex signal acquisition circuit, high cost and the like. The capacitive pressure sensor realizes the detection of the external pressure by utilizing the principle that the capacitance changes along with the change of the pressure, and has the advantages of simple structure, low power consumption, good linearity, small volume and the like. However, capacitive stress sensors are susceptible to parasitic capacitances in the connecting wires and therefore require high demands on the measurement circuitry. Piezoresistive pressure sensors operate on the principle that the resistance of a metal or semiconductor changes with the change of the external pressure. The piezoresistive pressure sensor applied at present is mainly a silicon-based pressure sensor, and has the advantages of wide application range, wide dynamic range, integration benefit and the like.
In practical applications, the object to be measured often deforms by stretching, compressing, bending, and the like, and the bending deformation has different bending directions relative to the initial state, for example, the object to be measured is initially placed horizontally, and the object to be measured is bent upwards or downwards during bending. Therefore, a sensor capable of detecting not only the bending angle but also the bending direction will greatly improve the detection sensitivity.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention provides a flexible sensor which can detect not only a bending angle but also a bending direction.
The technical scheme of the invention is as follows: a flexible sensor comprising a flexible and non-conductive substrate, a flowable pressure sensitive material and an electrode;
the substrate is provided with a channel, and the flowable pressure sensitive material is filled in the channel and is electrically connected with electrodes arranged at two ends of the channel;
the cross section perpendicular to the thickness direction of the substrate is called a cross section, the cross section positioned at the position of one half of the thickness of the substrate is a center axis cross section, and the center axis cross section divides the substrate into an upper part and a lower part; the channel is located in an upper portion of the substrate.
The substrate is flexible, can be deformed by stretching, bending, etc., and is electrically non-conductive. The material constituting the substrate is not limited, and may be a polymer material having flexibility, such as Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polyurethane (PU), polyimide (PI), or the like.
The pressure sensitive material has conductivity, and the material is not limited, and can be ionic liquid, liquid metal, physiological saline, and the like, preferably liquid metal.
The electrode has conductivity, and the material is not limited, and may be a metal material such as copper wire, gold wire, silver wire, or the like.
The channel is positioned at the upper part of the substrate, namely, along the thickness direction of the substrate, and the channel is positioned at one side of the substrate only and is in an asymmetric structure. Preferably, the channel is remote from the central axis cross section.
The thickness of the substrate is not limited, and can be in a micron level or a millimeter level, and can be reasonably selected according to practical application requirements.
The channel shape is not limited, and may be one or a combination of several of straight line shape, folded line shape and curved line shape.
Preferably, the thickness of the substrate is in the order of millimeters, and more preferably, the thickness of the substrate is 1 millimeter to 5 millimeters.
Preferably, the width of the channel is in the order of micrometers, the depth is in the order of micrometers, and the length is in the order of millimeters. Further preferably, the channel has a width of 50 micrometers to 500 micrometers, a depth of 50 micrometers to 200 micrometers, and a length of 10 millimeters to 100 millimeters.
The invention also provides a method for preparing the flexible sensor, which specifically comprises the following steps: the substrate and the channel are prepared, a flowable pressure sensitive material is injected into the channel, and then electrodes are connected at both ends of the channel.
As one implementation, the substrate and channel are prepared using a 3D printing method. Preferably, the liquid substrate material is solidified layer by layer, 3D printing is performed by a method of maintaining the liquid state without solidification at the channel structure position, and then the liquid substrate material is extracted to obtain the substrate and the channel.
The invention adopts the flexible substrate and the flowable pressure sensitive material, the flexible substrate is provided with the channel, the flowable pressure sensitive material is filled in the channel to form conductive connection, and the channel is arranged at the upper part of the flexible substrate and is in an asymmetric structure in the thickness direction of the flexible substrate, so that the invention has the following beneficial effects:
(1) When the flexible substrate is stressed and bent, the channel resistance changes due to the stress effect, and the electric signal changes at the two ends of the detection electrode can obtain a bending angle; further, the present inventors have found that since the channels are provided in an asymmetric structure in the thickness direction of the flexible substrate in the present invention, when the flexible substrate is bent toward the side where the channels are provided and bent toward the opposite side where the channels are provided with respect to the initial state, the resistance R at both ends of the electrode varies inversely:
When the flexible substrate is bent towards the side where the channel is arranged, the channel is mainly subjected to compressive stress, the resistance R at the two ends of the electrode is reduced, so that DeltaR is a negative number, the resistance change rate (DeltaR/Rx 100%) is a negative number, and the resistance change rate basically linearly changes along with the bending angle;
When the flexible substrate is bent to the opposite side of the channel, the channel is mainly subjected to tensile stress, the resistance R at the two ends of the electrode is increased, thus DeltaR is a positive number, the resistance change rate (DeltaR/Rx 100%) is a positive number, and the resistance change rate basically linearly changes along with the bending angle;
Therefore, when the flexible substrate is forced to bend, not only the bending angle but also the bending direction can be obtained by detecting the change of the electric signal at both ends of the electrode. The electrical signal may be a voltage signal, a current signal, or a resistance signal; preferably, a resistive signal is used.
(2) The flexible sensor has the advantages of simple structure, convenient use, high sensitivity, and particular suitability for detecting joint movement, and can be attached to a body to be detected, and the specific using method is as follows:
(2-1) naturally placing the flexible sensor, and testing the resistance R of the flexible sensor in an initial state without applying stress;
(2-2) the remaining test conditions are the same as in the above step (1), and the flexible sensor is bent toward the side where the channel is provided with respect to the initial state, and the rate of change of resistance of the sensor at different bending angles is tested as a reference value one;
(2-3) the remaining test conditions are the same as in the above step (1), bending the flexible sensor to the opposite side of the set channel with respect to the initial state, and testing the resistance change rate of the sensor at different bending angles as a reference value two;
(2-4) in actual use, placing the flexible sensor on the surface of the object to be measured, contacting the lower part of the substrate with the object to be measured, testing the resistance change rate of the flexible sensor, judging that the object to be measured is bent towards the side where the channel is arranged if the resistance change rate is a positive number, and comparing the resistance change rate with a reference value, wherein the bending angle corresponding to the same value is the actual bending angle; if the resistance change rate is negative, the body to be measured is judged to bend to the opposite side of the set channel, the resistance change rate is compared with the reference value II, and the bending angle corresponding to the same value is the actual bending angle.
(3) In the invention, the sensitivity of the sensor can be further adjusted by adjusting the thickness of the substrate and/or the size of the channel; in addition, the flexible sensor of the invention has stability, thereby improving the reliability of the sensor.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a sensor in embodiment 1 of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing the upward bending of the sensor in embodiment 1 of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing the change rate of resistance with the bending angle when the sensor in example 1 of the present invention is bent upward.
Fig. 4 is a schematic view showing the sensor in embodiment 1 of the present invention bent downward.
Fig. 5 is a graph showing the change rate of resistance with the bending angle when the sensor in example 1 of the present invention is bent upward.
FIG. 6 is a test result of the repeatability of the sensor in example 1 of the present invention.
Fig. 7 is a picture showing the sensor of example 1 of the present invention attached to the wrist of a human body and moving along with the bending of the wrist of the human body.
Fig. 8 is a graph of the resistivity monitoring results of the sensor of fig. 7.
Detailed Description
The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the following examples and drawings, and it should be noted that the following examples are intended to facilitate the understanding of the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting in any way.
The reference numerals in fig. 1 are: a substrate 1, a channel 2, a pressure sensitive material 3, an electrode 4.
The flexible sensor structure is shown in fig. 1 and comprises a substrate 1, a flowable pressure sensitive material 3 and electrodes 4. The substrate 1 is provided with a channel 2, electrodes 4 are arranged at both ends of the channel, and a pressure sensitive material 3 is filled in the channel 2 and forms an electrically conductive connection with the electrodes 4.
As shown in fig. 1, the substrate 1 is placed horizontally, the thickness direction of the substrate 1 is the Y-axis direction, and the cross section of the substrate 1 is parallel to the XZ plane.
In this embodiment, the thickness of the substrate 1 is H, the cross section at the H/2 thickness position of the substrate 1 is a central axis cross section, and the central axis cross section divides the substrate 1 into an upper part and a lower part; the channel 2 is located in an upper portion of the substrate 1 and is close to the upper surface of the substrate.
In this example, the material of the substrate 1 was a commercially available resin (model RS-F2-FLGR-02) having a thickness of 3mm, a length of 60 mm and a width of 20 mm. The pressure sensitive material 3 is gallium indium tin liquid metal. The channel had a serpentine structure with a channel width of 100 microns and a channel depth of 50 microns. The electrode is a copper electrode.
The preparation method of the flexible sensor comprises the following steps:
(1) Preparation of substrate and channel
The substrate and the channel were prepared using a 3D printing method. The liquid commercially available resin (RS-F2-FLGR-02) was cured to a solid using ultraviolet light with a spot size of 140 microns and a power of 250 milliwatts. The layer by layer curing is carried out, the curing thickness of each layer is 50 microns, and the specific steps are as follows:
first, the cure size is: curing for 40 times with the length of 60 mm and the width of 20mm to form a solid state with the thickness of 2 mm;
Then, as shown in fig. 1, designing a serpentine-shaped channel with a width of 100 micrometers and a depth of 50 micrometers, and preparing the channel by adopting selective curing, namely, the resin at the channel is not cured but still in a liquid state, and the rest parts form a solid state with a thickness of 0.05 millimeter;
Finally, the cured dimensions were: the solid was cured 19 times to a thickness of 0.95 mm and a length of 60 mm and a width of 20 mm.
(2) Injection of pressure sensitive materials
Drawing the liquid resin in the step (1) out by using a syringe to form a channel, and then injecting gallium indium tin liquid metal into the channel.
(3) Preparation of electrodes
And (3) inserting copper electrodes at two ends of the channel treated in the step (2).
The resistance R of the prepared flexible sensor is tested by adopting a semiconductor parameter instrument, and the specific testing method is as follows:
(1) As shown in fig. 2, the flexible sensor is placed horizontally, is not stressed, and is in an initial state, and the resistance R at both ends of the electrode is tested.
(2) The remaining test conditions were the same as in the above step (1), and the flexible sensor was bent upward as shown in fig. 2, i.e., bent toward the side where the channel was provided, and the change in resistance R at both ends of the electrode was tested, and the test results were shown in fig. 3, and it can be seen that the resistance R was reduced after the upward bending, Δr was a negative number, and the rate of change in resistance (Δr/r×100%) was changed substantially linearly with the bending angle, and the rate of change in resistance at different bending angles was recorded as a reference value one.
(3) The remaining test conditions were the same as in the above step (1), and the flexible sensor was bent downward as shown in fig. 4, i.e., bent to the opposite side where the channel was provided, and the change in resistance R at both ends of the electrode was tested, and the test results were shown in fig. 5, and it can be seen that the resistance R increased after bending downward, Δr was a positive number, and the rate of change in resistance (Δr/r×100%) was changed substantially linearly with the bending angle, and the rate of change in resistance at different bending angles was recorded as a reference value of two.
(4) The rest test conditions are the same as the step (1), and the flexible sensor is subjected to the following motion A:
motion a: bending the flexible sensor downwards, namely bending to 40 degrees to the opposite side of the channel, and then restoring to an initial state, wherein the change of the resistance R at two ends of the test electrode is detected in the process;
The above-mentioned movement a 68 times was repeated to obtain a change rate of resistance as shown in fig. 6, showing that the flexible sensor has a change stability upon bending deformation. Similarly, the flexible sensor has the same stability of variation when bent upward.
In actual use, the flexible sensor is fitted to the human wrist and the lower portion of the base contacts the human wrist as shown in fig. 7. The resistance R of the flexible sensor was tested using a semiconductor parameter, the remaining test conditions were the same as those described above in step (1), and the test results are shown in fig. 8. As can be seen from fig. 8: initially, the human wrist was horizontal, then the wrist was bent upward, then horizontal, then bent downward, and the measured resistivity profile was as shown in fig. 8, as can be seen:
① The position delta R/R is 0 and is in an initial state; ② If the position delta R/R is a negative number, the wrist is judged to be bent upwards, and the value of the angle of upward bending of the wrist can be obtained by comparing the value of the delta R/R with the reference value I; ③ If the position delta R/R is 0, judging that the wrist is restored to the initial state; ④ And if the position delta R/R is a positive number, judging that the wrist is bent downwards, and comparing the value of the delta R/R with the reference value II to obtain the angle value of the upward bending of the wrist.
Example 2:
In this embodiment, the flexible sensor structure is substantially the same as that in embodiment 1, except that the thickness of the substrate 1 is 5mm.
In this embodiment, the flexible sensor structure is substantially the same as that in embodiment 1, except that the thickness of the substrate 1 is 5mm.
The resistance R of the flexible sensor manufactured as described above was measured using a semiconductor parameter, and the specific measurement method was the same as in example 1, as follows:
(1) As shown in fig. 2, the flexible sensor is placed horizontally, is not stressed, and is in an initial state, and the resistance R at both ends of the electrode is tested.
(2) The remaining test conditions were the same as in the above step (1), and the flexible sensor was bent upward as shown in fig. 2, i.e., bent toward the side where the channel was provided, and the change in resistance R at both ends of the electrode was tested, and the test results were shown in fig. 3, and it can be seen that the resistance R was reduced after the upward bending, Δr was a negative number, and the rate of change in resistance (Δr/r×100%) was changed substantially linearly with the bending angle, and the rate of change in resistance at different bending angles was recorded as a reference value one. In addition, it can be seen that the rate of change of resistance in this example is more sensitive at different bending angles than in example 1.
(3) The remaining test conditions were the same as in the above step (1), and the flexible sensor was bent downward as shown in fig. 4, i.e., bent to the opposite side where the channel was provided, and the change in resistance R at both ends of the electrode was tested, and the test results were shown in fig. 5, and it can be seen that the resistance R increased after bending downward, Δr was a positive number, and the rate of change in resistance (Δr/r×100%) was changed substantially linearly with the bending angle, and the rate of change in resistance at different bending angles was recorded as a reference value of two. In addition, it can be seen that the rate of change of resistance in this example is more sensitive at different bending angles than in example 1.
(4) The rest test conditions are the same as the step (1), and the flexible sensor is subjected to the following motion A:
Motion a: bending the flexible sensor downwards, namely bending to 50 degrees to the opposite side of the channel, and then restoring to an initial state, wherein the change of the resistance R at two ends of the test electrode is detected in the process;
The above-mentioned movement a 70 times is repeated, and the obtained resistivity change rate is similar to that shown in fig. 6, showing that the flexible sensor has a change stability in bending deformation. Similarly, the flexible sensor has the same stability of variation when bent upward.
In this embodiment, in actual use, the flexible sensor is disposed on the object to be measured, and the lower portion of the substrate contacts the object to be measured, and the resistance of the flexible sensor is tested by using the semiconductor parameter meter, and the remaining test conditions are the same as those in the step (1), and the bending direction and the bending angle when the object to be measured performs bending motion can be obtained from the test result, as in the embodiment 1.
While the foregoing embodiments have been described in detail in connection with the embodiments of the invention, it should be understood that the foregoing embodiments are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention, and any modifications, additions, substitutions and the like made within the principles of the invention are intended to be included within the scope of the invention.