A Transfer-Printed, Stretchable, and Reliable Strain Sensor Using PEDOT:PSS/Ag NW Hybrid Films Embedded into Elastomers

Strain sensors can distinguish diverse deformations of target objects and have promising application as electronic skins, health monitors, soft robotics, etc. However, most of strain sensors suffer from reliability issue along with small strain-sensing region due to the slippages of conducting components and the relaxation of their underlying elastomers. Here, a strain sensor with a sandwiched structure (i.e., poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) and Ag nanowires (NWs) are embedded into polydimethylsiloxane) via a transfer-printing technique is reported. The devices not only show a broad sensing region up to 50% strain with improved sensitivity, but also possess a reliable resistance response with recoverable conductance. The work provides a simple transfer-printing method to make reliable, stretchable, and sensitive strain sensors for their promising implementation.