Flexible electronics, which can be distributed on any surface we need, are highly demanded in the development of Internet of Things (IoT), robot technology and electronic skins. Temperature is a fundamental physical parameter, and it is an important indicator in many applications. Therefore, a flexible temperature sensor is required. Here, we report a simple method to fabricate three lightweight, low-cost and flexible temperature sensors, whose sensitive materials are reduced graphene oxide (r-GO), single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). By comparing linearity, sensitive and repeatability, we found that the r-GO temperature sensor had the most balanced performance. Furthermore, the r-GO temperature sensor showed good mechanical properties and it could be bent in different angles with negligible resistance change. In addition, the performance of the r-GO temperature sensor remained stable under different kinds of pressure and was unaffected by surrounding environments, like humidity or other gases, because of the insulating layer on its sensitive layer. The easy-fabricated process and economy, together with the remarkable performance of the r-GO temperature sensor, suggest that it is suitable for use as a robot skin or used in the environment of IoT.
In this article, we proposed a measurement system that can simultaneously measure temperature and pressure. By analyzing several existing measurement methods of the sensor, we determined that the resonance frequency and S 11 (reflection coefficient) amplitude of the sensor readout system should be measured when the resonance frequency of the sensor up to a hundred megahertz or even gigahertz and when the sensor works in ultrahigh temperature environment. In addition, we designed a simple and accurate sensor readout circuit and an LC temperature-pressure sensor. By analyzing the resonance frequency and the amplitude of S 11 , temperature and pressure were measured simultaneously with a single LC circuit. Since the analysis of the whole nonlinear system of sensors is complex, we divide the entire nonlinear system into several linear systems superposition. By analyzing the interference between temperature and pressure, we further optimized the measurement method. The relative errors of the temperature measurements in the range of 25 °C-300 °C and 300 °C-1000 °C were only 2.89% and 1.25%, respectively. From 25 °C to 300 °C and 300 °C to 1000 °C, the average relative errors of pressure measurement were only 4.07% and 4.74%, respectively. Besides, the proposed method can also be widely used in the measurement of LC multiparameter sensors.
In this paper, a gas detection system with an environmental compensation algorithm based on nondispersive infrared (NDIR) technology was designed. The prepared infrared pyroelectric detector was a dual-channel type based on the lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) wafer. The design of the optical gas chamber adopted a combination of two ellipsoids and a spherical top surface, which not only enhanced the coupling efficiency of the light propagation but also facilitated the miniaturization of the sensor module. In addition to this, a temperature and humidity compensation algorithm based on the least square method was proposed to make the measurement accuracy up to ±0.9% full scale (FS).
There is an increasing demand for bearing temperature and strain monitoring in high-speed rotating systems. This study proposes a new multiresonance, multiplexing, wireless, passive inductance capacitance (LC) temperature and strain sensor. The sensor has two capacitors connected at different locations (turns) on the same inductor to achieve simultaneous temperature and strain measurements. The plate capacitor is connected to the inner part of the inductor and the other interdigital capacitor is connected to the outer part of the inductor to form two LC loops. The structure of the sensor is optimized through High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) simulations to realize frequency separation of the two parameters and avoid mutual interference between the two signals. The sensor is fabricated on a polyimide film using electroplating technology. The experimental results show that the temperature–strain sensor can operate stably from 25 °C to 85 °C with an average sensitivity of 27.3 kHz/°C within this temperature range. The sensor can detect strains in the range of 1000–5000 με with a strain sensitivity of 100 Hz/με at 25 °C. Therefore, the proposed wireless passive LC temperature-strain sensor exhibits stable performance. In addition, the use of a single inductor effectively reduces the sensor’s area. The flexible substrate provides advantageous surface conformal attachment characteristics suitable for monitoring high-temperature rotating parts in adverse environments.
In this study, a microwave slot-antenna loaded with complementary split ring resonator (CSRR) for wireless temperature-pressure detection in high-temperature environments was presented. To achieve the design of a miniaturized high-temperature sensor with multiple parameters, it is proposed to use a S11 to simultaneously monitor temperature and pressure parameters. Using resonant amplitude to monitor changes in environmental temperature and using resonant frequency to characterize changes in pressure. The sensitivity mechanisms for the temperature, and pressure sensing are described in detail. The working principle of the temperature-pressure sensor is elaborated via circuit analysis and simulation optimization of high frequency structure simulator (HFSS). The sensor was customized and fabricated on the high temperature cofired ceramics (HTCC) using the three-dimensional co-firing and screen-printing technology. The as-prepared sensor can stably work at the ambient environment of 20 - 800 ℃, and 100 - 300 kPa, with a temperature sensitivity of 0.0133 dB/°C and a pressure sensitivity of 235 kHz/kPa at 800 °C. The temperature compensation algorithm is proposed to achieve accurate acquisition of pressure signals in a high-temperature environment. The sensor has the potential for utilization in simultaneous temperature and pressure monitoring in harsh environments.