A novel self-powered sensitive porous ZnO NWs/PDMS sponge capacitive pressure sensor

Abstract The demand for flexible sensors has increased due to the explosive expansion of flexible electronic applications, but there are concerns that the development of high-precision measurement is limited. Capacitive pressure sensors are extensively utilized among diverse sensors due to their simple structure, high resolution, and outstanding dynamic response characteristics. Therefore, by sandwiching a porous ZnO NWs PDMS (PZP) sponge dielectric layer between two ITO/PET electrodes, a flexible capacitive pressure sensor with high sensitivity, short response time, and wide working range was prepared. The porous PDMS sponge was prepared utilizing the salt particle as a template, then ZnO NWs in different precise proportions were added to it. The sensitivity of PZP sponge capacitive pressure sensors with different salt particle sizes and ZnO NWs dosages were compared. The research results indicate that when salt particle sizes less than 150 μm, and the amount of ZnO NWs in PZP sponge is increased to 200 mg, the sensor sensitivity is highest in the pressure range of 2.5-7.5 kPa, reaching 0.1279 kPa -1 , response time less than 70 ms. When the PZP sponge sensor is used as a self-powered source, it achieves the best output of 1.2 V and 6.8 nA at 5.74 kPa pressure. It provides a new way to tackle the challenge of low sensitivity of flexible sensors to capacitive signal and lays a foundation for expanding the application scenarios of ZnO NWs.