One-step fabrication of highly sensitive pressure sensor by all FDM printing

A highly sensitive pressure sensor with a sandwich structure is developed through one-step fabrication with a double nozzle FDM printer. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and ionic liquid (IL) are introduced into polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) to obtain high β phase composites (named PIM), which serves as piezoelectric layer, and a conductive PVDF composites is used as electrode materials. Post-processing steps are not required because of the strong adhesion between the above layers. The 4-layer PIM sensor exhibits a high sensitivity (2.65 V kPa −1 ) and excellent long-term stability (10000 cycles), which is further successfully applied in gait recognition. • The pressure sensor with a sandwich structure is fabricated by one-step all FDM printing without any post-processing. • MWCNTs and IL is introduced to PVDF to obtain higher polar β content composites, acting as the piezoelectric layer. • The sensor shows high sensitivity of 2.65 V kPa −1 and excellent long-term stability. • The sensor is successfully applied in gait recognition.