Microtetrahedral Electrode-Enhanced Wearable Capacitive Dual-Mode Sensor for Integrated Tactile Pressure and Proximity Detection.

Journal: ACS sensors
Published Date: Nov 20, 2025

Abstract

Advances in artificial intelligence are enabling flexible intelligent sensors with performance rivaling or surpassing human perception. In this work, we have introduced a dual-mode capacitive sensor featuring double-sided microtetrahedral electrodes (DSMEs) for proximity and contact detection. The innovative architecture design effectively minimizes the sensor's viscoelasticity and equivalent modulus, achieving a high pressure sensitivity of 1.29 kPa-1 across a broad linear response range of 0-20 kPa and a detection upper limit of up to 800 kPa. The sensor demonstrates rapid response and recovery times of 125 and 65 ms, respectively, along with stable signal output maintained over 10,000 loading cycles. Moreover, the microtetrahedral structure electrodes produce a nonuniform electric field, which enhances noncontact sensing capabilities through the capacitive fringe effect, allowing the sensor to detect stainless steel plates at distances of up to 100 mm. Leveraging its exceptional dual-mode sensing capabilities, the sensor has demonstrated remarkable performances in human motion monitoring, object shape recognition, and material type perception. With the integration of machine learning, the sensor achieves an impressive material classification accuracy of 98.75%. These results establish a valuable reference for the development of multifunctional intelligent perception systems in the next generation of intelligent robots.

Authors

  • Donghua Xing
    State Key Laboratory of Structural Analysis, Optimization and CAE Software for Industrial Equipment; National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Polymer Processing Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan 450002, China.
  • Ziqi Wang
    The Center for Ion Beam Bioengineering & Green Agriculture, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, China.
  • Shun Liu
    Department of Child and Adolescent Health & Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530021, Guangxi, China.
  • Wenke Yang
    School of Electronic and Information Engineering (SEIE), Zhuhai College of Science and Technology, Zhuhai 519041, China.
  • Rui Yin
    Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics, University of Florida, Gainesville, College of Medicine, FL, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • Chuntai Liu
    National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Polymer Processing Technology, Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials Processing & Mold, Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China.
  • Changyu Shen
    School of Materials Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Mold (Zhengzhou University), Ministry of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China.
  • Hu Liu
    School of Instrument Science and Opto-electronic Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 10091, China.

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