Flexible ecoflex®/graphene nanoplatelet foams for highly sensitive low-pressure sensors

The high demand for multifunctional devices for smart clothing applications, human motion detection, soft robotics, and artificial electronic skins has encouraged researchers to develop new high-performance flexible sensors. In this work, we fabricated and tested new 3D squeezable Ecoflex® open cell foams loaded with different concentrations of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) in order to obtain lightweight, soft, and cost-effective piezoresistive sensors with high sensitivity in a low-pressure regime. We analyzed the morphology of the produced materials and characterized both the mechanical and piezoresistive response of samples through quasi-static cyclic compression tests. Results indicated that sensors infiltrated with 1 mg of ethanol/GNP solution with a GNP concentration of 3 mg/mL were more sensitive and stable compared to those infiltrated with the same amount of ethanol/GNP solution but with a lower GNP concentration. The electromechanical response of the sensors showed a negative piezoresistive behavior up to ~10 kPa and an opposite trend for the 10–40 kPa range. The sensors were particularly sensitive at very low deformations, thus obtaining a maximum sensitivity of 0.28 kPa−1 for pressures lower than 10 kPa.