Pressure-Controlled Thermochromic Electronic Skin with Adjustable Memory Time During Fabrication for In-Situ Pressure Display Application

• Published in: IEEE transactions on instrumentation and measurement 2022, Vol.71, p.1-1
• Main Authors: Meng, Xiangyu, Lu, Xiaozhou, Shi, Yaoguang, Tang, Hongyao, Bao, Weimin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Automation; Circuits; Display devices; Encapsulation; Fabrication; Force; Image color analysis; insitu display; Manufacturing engineering; Microstructure; Miniaturization; Pressure distribution; pressure memory; Robotics; Sensors; Skin; Tactile electronic skin; Temperature measurement; Thermal conductivity; thermochromic
• ISSN: 0018-9456; 1557-9662
• DOI: 10.1109/TIM.2022.3186049

The data collection and the display function of electronic skin usually depend upon external measurement circuit and display devices, which hinders the flexibility and miniaturization of electronic skin. Despite that thermochromic tactile electronic skin can directly display and/or memorize pressure to realize in-situ display of measurement information, however, adjusting the memory time of color-changing electronic skin during fabrication according to practical application requirements is still confronted with challenges. In this paper, we propose a pressure-controlled thermochromic tactile electronic skin characterizing with in-situ display and pressure memory. The memory time can be adjust according to the requirements during electronic skin fabrication. By combining piezoresistive-sensitive layer with thermochromic composite layer, the prepared electronic skin can realize in-situ display of pressure signals within the range of 0 to 110 kPa. Meanwhile, the corresponding color change of the electronic skin can be retained for a time period after being pressed, exhibiting excellent pressure memory function. The skin's adjustable pressure memory time can be realized through regulating the thermal conductivity of its encapsulation material. Experimental results suggest that the prepared electronic skin can be used for wearable sensing devices and spatial pressure distribution sensing, through which its great potential is therefore highlighted in various fields such as robotics and healthcare.