Stress tolerance plays a vital role in ensuring the effectiveness of piezoresistive sensing films used in flexible pressure sensors. However, existing methods for enhancing stress tolerance employ dome-shaped, wrinkle-shaped, and pyramidal-shaped microstructures in intricate molding and demolding processes, which introduce significant fabrication challenges and limit the sensing performance. To address these shortcomings, this paper presents periodic microslits in a sensing film made of multiwalled carbon nanotubes and polydimethylsiloxane to realize ultrahigh stress tolerance with a theoretical maximum of 2.477 MPa and a sensitivity of 18.092 kPa⁻¹. The periodic microslits permit extensive deformation under high pressure (e.g., 400 kPa) to widen the detection range. Moreover, the periodic microslits also enhance the sensitivity based on simultaneously exhibiting multiple synapses within the sensing interface and between the periodic sensing cells. The proposed solution is verified by experiments using sensors based on the microslit strategy for wind direction detection, robot movement sensing, and human health monitoring. In these experiments, vehicle load detection is achieved for ultrahigh pressure sensing under an ultrahigh pressure of over 400 kPa and a ratio of the contact area to the total area of 32.74%. The results indicate that the proposed microslit strategy can achieve ultrahigh stress tolerance while simplifying the fabrication complexity of preparing microstructure sensing films.

Characteristics, such as large measurement range, good repeatability and stability, are the guarantee for a wide application of flexible three-dimensional force sensors in robots and other smart devices. In this research, a flexible three-dimensional force sensor is presented, whose structure includes force-sensitive cells, fixed under the bump and a support layer, filled around the force-sensitive cells. This setup allows the sensor to quickly recover, after the force is released, to ensure its excellent performance. The production method is very simple and has the advantage of large-scale and low-cost manufacturing. The sensor exhibited good repeatability and stability, after 25 000 cycles of loading and releasing, under 8 N force. Meanwhile, it has a large measuring range, which is 0–15 N in the direction of normal force and 0–5.5 N in the direction of shear force. The sensitivity of the sensor in the x, y , and z directions is 1.5321 V ⁻¹ N ⁻¹ , 1.501 29 V ⁻¹ N ⁻¹ , and 0.936 87 V ⁻¹ N ⁻¹ , respectively. The load response time of the sensor is 33 ms and the unload recovery time of 18 ms. Regarding practical applications, the sensor shows good prospects. For example, the sensor and its array can be installed on the manipulator to sense the magnitude and location of the three-dimensional force; in the case of the flexible smart keyboard, the presented sensor array can save space significantly and recognize multiple specific input features, in order to enhance information security; while as a car controller, it is multi-functional integrated and portable, thus showing great potential as replacement to the traditional operating methods.

Graphene, as a novel thermoelectric (TE) material, has received growing attention because of its unique microstructure and excellent thermoelectric properties. In this paper, graphene fibers (GFs) are synthesized by a facile microfluidic spinning technique using a green reducing agent (vitamin C). The GFs have the merits of high electrical conductivity (2448 S/m), high flexibility, and light weight. Further, a flexible temperature sensor based on GF and platinum (Pt) with a sensitivity of 29.9 μV/°C is proposed, and the thermal voltage output of the sensor can reach 3.45 mV at a temperature gradient of 120 °C. The sensor has good scalability in length, and its sensitivity can increase with the number of p-n thermocouples. It has good cyclic stability, repeatability, resistance to bending interference, and stability, showing great promise for applications in real-time detection of human body temperature.

The rapid development of the internet of things technology has led to great demand for intelligent electric field sensor (EFS). Several working principles have been proposed, however major challenges remain existed for the requirements of EFS with low-cost, large-range, and high-resolution. In this paper, an EFS based on piezoelectric (PE) bending effect using d ₃₁ mode is developed, where a bending strain is induced on the sandwiched bimorph structure of PZT/PDMS/PZT under an applied electric field, and the capacitance value of the PDMS layer reveals detectable variation. We demonstrate an EFS operating at the stress-mediated coupling between PE ceramic and elastic dielectric polymer, which reveals advantages such as simple fabrication process, low-cost and low power consumption. Due to the sandwiched bimorph structure, the strain caused by the electric field can be effectively transferred to improve the resolution of the device. The constitutive equations for the sandwiched bimorph structure are built, and the working principle of the proposed EFS is demonstrated. The EFS exhibits high sensitivity under both AC and DC electric fields, with a resolution of 0.1 V cm ⁻¹ in the range of −3 to 3 kV cm ⁻¹ . The proposed sensor provides an alternative solution for power equipment fault diagnosis, power frequency electric field detection, etc.

Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensors have been widely used in current detection, compass, automobile, and Internet of Things. The linearity of GMR sensors relies on a magnetic annealing process above the blocking temperature of the antiferromagnetic layer, which causes the same magnetization directions in the free and pinned ferromagnetic layers. Here we construct an orthogonal magnetic anisotropic structure by using a relatively low annealing temperature of 145 °C, where the magnetization direction of the free layer is perpendicular to that of the pinned layer so that a linear output can be realized. Quantitative magneto-optical kerr microscope (MOKE) is used to investigate the vector distribution of the magnetic domains, showing that an orthogonal anisotropy is established by the low temperature annealing process. GMR magnetic field sensor with a sensitivity of 0.78 mV/V/Oe and a measurement range of −20 to 20 Oe is demonstrated, which provides an effective method to enhance the linearity of the magnetic sensors with spin valve structures.

The voltage modulation in spin dynamics via the spin-lattice coupling (SLC) effect has been investigated in epitaxial La_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃/PMN-PT multiferroic heterostructures. The critical angle for the disappearance of the first exchange (FEX) spin wave has been observed around 67° experimentally and been shifted about 4° by applying an electric field (E-field). In particular, at the critical angle, the FEX spin wave can be switched “on” and “off” by voltages, showing great potential in realizing magnonic devices. Moreover, the FEX spin wave resonance shift of 187 Oe at 173 K has been realized by the voltage driven SLC effect, which is a little larger than piezostrain-induced ferromagnetic resonance shift of 169 Oe. The experimental results can be well-explained by the modified Puszkarski spin wave theory.