Highly sensitive and stable 3D flexible pressure sensor based on carbon black and multi-walled carbon nanotubes prepared by hydrothermal method

High-performance piezoresistive sensors have the potential for human health monitoring applications. However, the conductive ink should add adhesive to ensure the hydrophobic carbon-based conductive material uniformly, which decrease the sensitivity. We fabricated a piezoresistive sensor without any adhesive polymer by introduced multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and carbon black (CB) into the skeletons of the melamine sponge (MS) via a simple hydrothermal method. Due to the crosslinking effect, the microporous structure and strong adsorption of the of conductive MWCNTs and CB, the [email protected] sensor exhibits excellent performance: a sensitivity of 48.26 kPa−1 in the working range of 12.5 kPa–20 kPa, a response time of 15 ms, an low detection limit of 20 Pa, and performance stability (>250,000 loading cycles). This [email protected] flexible pressure sensor can detect physiological motions.