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Highly sensitive pressure sensors able to detect minute gas pressure differences are required to obtain more complete information from wearable sensors. Here, we developed a simple and highly sensitive pressure sensor composed uniquely of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as a sensing element. Through our developed transfer patterning method, carbon nanotubes were first inkjet-printed on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film then transferred to PDMS, allowing deposition of well-defined patterns of CNTs. We show that a PDMS diaphragm containing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can act as a pressure sensor due to the deflection of the diaphragm and a consequent change in resistance of the CNT pattern. The simple fabrication process may allow the sensor to be easily integrated into various devices and has high sensitivity, allowing low differential pressure measurement, while the minimum detected differential pressure was 10 Pa.

Abstract Microelectrodes for detection of chemicals present several advantages over conventional sized electrodes. However, rapid and low-cost fabrication of microelectrodes is challenging due to high complexity of patterning equipment. We present the development of a low-cost, customizable inkjet printer for printing nanomaterials including carbon nanotubes for the fabrication of microelectrodes. The achieved spatial resolution of the inkjet printer is less than 20 µm, which is comparable to advanced commercially available inkjet printers, with the advantage of being low-cost and easily replicated.