Sensors and Actuators A 294 (2019) 45–53

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Sensors and Actuators A: Physical

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/sna

A high-sensitivity and low-hysteresis flexible pressure sensor based

on carbonized cotton fabric
Shengnan Chang a , Jin Li a , Yin He a , Hao Liu a,b,c,∗ , Bowen Cheng a,b,∗
a
School of Textile Science and Engineering, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin 300387, PR China
b
State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, Tianjin 300387, PR China
c
Institute of Smart Wearable Electronic Textiles, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin 300387, PR China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Flexible pressure sensors have grown rapidly in the past few years. The great challenge for these sen-
Received 7 March 2019 sors is the complex and expensive manufacturing process, as well as the electromechanical performance
Received in revised form 6 May 2019 that is not compatible with sensitivity and hysteresis. In this work, a flexible resistive-type pressure
Accepted 9 May 2019
sensor using carbonized cotton fabric (CCF) is manufactured through a facile, low-cost and scalable
Available online 11 May 2019
preparation process, which exhibits excellent flexibility and electromechanical performance. The com-
posite material, obtained by immersing CCF in a thermoplastic urethane (TPU) solution, is combined
Keywords:
with interdigitated electrodes to assemble the desired pressure sensor. The natural porous network of
Flexible pressure sensor
Carbonized cotton fabric
CCF with high-conductivity carbon fibers and the flexible substrate with low concentration TPU solution
Thermoplastic polyurethane (resulting in reduced viscoelasticity) endow the flexible pressure sensor remarkable electromechanical
High-sensitivity performance, including ultrahigh sensitivity (up to 74.80 kPa−1 ) and ultralow hysteresis (3.39%), which
Low-hysteresis are crucial for its practical application as flexible electronics. Moreover, the pressure sensor shows a
Wearable flexible electronics large pressure range (01̃6 kPa), low detection limit (0̃.70 Pa) and excellent durability (>4000 cycles).
Moreover, the influence of carbonization temperature on the electromechanical performance is also
discussed. Based on the superior property of CCF/TPU pressure sensor, its applications in monitoring
light items, wrist pulse, movements of fingers and wrists are demonstrated. Resultantly, low-cost raw
materials, simple preparation processes and excellent electromechanical performance make the CCF/TPU
pressure sensor a great potential in wearable flexible electronics.
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
As a significant component of wearable flexible devices, the flex-
ible pressure sensors have gained considerable attention in various
fields, including real-time health monitoring, human motion detec-
tion, human-machine interaction and electronic skin [1–5]. Most
pressure sensors have been developed based on four transduc-
tion mechanisms: transistors [6–8], piezoelectric [9–11], capacitive
[12–14] and resistive [15–17]. Among them, the resistive-type
pressure sensors are extensively used due to simple fabrication,
convenient signal acquisition and excellent performance. As active
portions of resistive-type pressure sensors, conductive materi-
als are critical to the realization of high performance. Traditional
pressure sensing platforms are based on metals and semicon-
ductors, which are no longer suitable for the requirement of
∗ Corresponding authors at: School of Textile Science and Engineering, Tianjin
Polytechnic University, Tianjin 300387, PR China.
E-mail addresses: liuhao@tjpu.edu.cn (H. Liu), bowenc15@tjpu.edu.cn
(B. Cheng).
softness and flexibility for these pressure sensors. Recently, vari-
ous novel materials have been developed as sensing materials for
flexible pressure sensors, including metal nanomaterials [18–20],
conductive polymers [21–23] and carbon nanomaterials (such as
graphene [24–26], carbon nanotubes [27–29] and carbon black
materials [30–32]), which are usually combined with flexible
substrates, such as Ecoflex, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), TPU
[33–37]. The obtained flexible pressure sensors exhibits excel-
lent flexibility. Additionally, miscellaneous microstructures have
been designed to significantly improve the electromechanical
property of these sensors [38–40]. However, complicated prepa-
ration processes and expensive raw materials are the drawbacks
that these pressure sensors cannot ignore. Moreover, the elec-
tromechanical performance, such as sensitivity and hysteresis,
cannot be achieved simultaneously. It is also not negligible that
these sensing materials have unknown toxicity and environmen-
tal unfriendliness. Based on this, a facile and economical flexible
pressure sensor with high electromechanical performance, as well
as high biocompatibility and environmental friendliness, is highly
desired.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2019.05.011
0924-4247/© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
46 S. Chang et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 294 (2019) 45–53
Cotton fabric (CF), readily available from market, has been
widely used in textiles with features of flexibility, light weight and
natural abundance, enabling it promising material in flexible pres-
sure sensors. But additional conductive materials are still needed
for these fabric-based sensors owing to the non-conductivity of
CF [41–43]. However, the CCF, converted from the CF by a simple
thermal treatment, exhibits satisfying electrical conductivity. Com-
pared with graphene and carbon nanotubes, such carbon-based
materials from natural biomaterials are emerging for applications
due to excellent flexibility, good electrical conductivity, low cost,
biocompatibility and environmental friendliness, such as flexible
supercapacitors, flexible batteries and flexible sensors [44–46].
Moreover, the flexible strain sensors based on carbonized cotton
fabric have been studied [47,48]. However, carbonized cotton fabric
has not been used to design the flexible pressure sensors.
Herein, a flexible CCF-based pressure sensor using commercial
cotton fabric as raw material by a facile, cost-effective and large-
area-capable preparation process was demonstrated. By simple
thermal treatment, the CCF with high conductivity was obtained,
and then combined with TPU solution by soaking process to con-
struct the desired flexible pressure sensor, avoiding complicated
preparation processes and expensive raw materials. The proposed
flexible pressure sensor showed remarkable flexibility, large pres-
sure range of 0–16 kPa, superior sensitivity of up to 74.80 kPa−1 ,
ultralow hysteresis of 3.39%, low detection limit of 0̃.70 Pa, excel-
lent durability and repeatability under the 4000 loading-unloading
cycles. Additionally, the sensor mechanism and the influence
of carbonization temperature on electromechanical performance
were also discussed. Moreover, the practical application of flexible
CCF/TPU pressure sensor in sensing subtle items, detecting wrist
pulses as well as monitoring the movements of fingers and wrists
had also been demonstrated. Based on this, the flexible CCF/TPU
pressure sensor, which not only have excellent flexibility and elec-
tromechanical performance, but also have simple manufacture
process, low cost, biocompatibility and environmental friendliness,
exhibits great potential as the wearable flexible electronic.
2. Experimental section
2.1. Material and preparation of the CCF
Commercially available CF (158 g m2 , 0.58 mm in thickness) was
ultrasound in acetone for 1 h to remove grease impurities, and then
rinsed several times with absolute ethanol and deionized water in
sequence. Finally, the clean CF was placed in oven at 60 ◦ C for 8 h
for subsequent carbonization treatment.
The heat stabilization was performed before the carbonization
treatment. The dried CF was placed in a muffle furnace (SX-G07103,
Tianjin Zhonghuan Experimental Furnaceco., Ltd.), heated to 260 ◦ C
at a heating rate of 2 ◦ C min−1 under an air atmosphere and kept
at 260 ◦ C for 1 h. After naturally cooled to room temperature, the
carbonization treatment for material was started in a tube furnace
(SK-G08163, Tianjin Zhonghuan Experimental Furnaceco., Ltd.) as
Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of the flexible CCF/TPU based pressure sensor.
following: heat to 800 ◦ C at a heating rate of 3 ◦ C min−1 under
a nitrogen atmosphere (gas flow, 200 sccm purity, 99.999%) and
keep at 800 ◦ C for 1 h. For comparison, CFF carbonized at 700 ◦ C
and 900 ◦ C, respectively, was prepared under the same experimen-
tal conditions. Finally, the prepared CCF was taken out for further
usage when naturally cooled to room temperature.
2.2. Preparation of the CCF/TPU flexible pressure sensor
The CCF was cut to a size of 1 cm × 1 cm. The TPU (60A, avail-
able from https://huasupu.1688.com/page/creditdetail.htm) was
dissolved in N,N-Dimethylacetamide (DMF) by magnetic stirring
at 50 ◦ C for 8 h to obtain a 7 wt% TPU solution as flexible sub-
strate. And the CCF was immersed in TPU solution for 5 min, then
taken out and dried at 80 ◦ C for 5 min. The above operation was
repeated three times to ensure that the TPU was completely uni-
formly coated. After the last soak, the material was dried at 80 ◦ C
for 2 h to cure. The prepared CCF/TPU composite material was put
directly on the interdigitated electrodes without adhesive layer
to ensure an unobstructed conduction path between them. The
interdigitated electrodes were tailored from the professional man-
ufacturer according to our designed pattern, which were obtained
by deposited metal material on the polyamide film. Two copper
wires were then welded to the end of the electrodes, followed by
heat sealed with a thermoplastic polyurethane film to protect the
entire device. As a result, a flexible CCF/TPU pressure sensor was
manufactured.
2.3. Characterization
A field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM, Hitachi
S4800 and Gemini SEM500) was employed to characterize the
surface morphology of the CF, CCF and CCF/TPU. A four-probe
tester (ST2263) was utilized to measure the conductivity of the
CCF and CCF/TPU composite. The Raman spectrum of CF and CCF
was recorded using a laser-excited Raman spectrometer (XploRA
PLUS) with a laser excitation wavelength of 500 nm. The elemen-
tal analysis of CF and CCF as well as the elemental spectra of CCF
were observed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, K-
alpha). The characteristic X-ray energy spectrometer (EDX, OCTANE
SUPER) was used to analyze the proportion of elements of the CCF.
The electromechanical performance of the flexible CCF/TPU pres-
sure sensor was measured using a designed flexible sensor test
system.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Fabrication and characterization
The CCF/TPU pressure sensor was developed by a simple pro-
cess. Fig. 1 illustrates the structure of CF and CCF, as well as
the fabrication process of flexible CCF/TPU pressure sensor. The
high-conductivity CCF was obtained from pristine cotton fabric via
 S. Chang et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 294 (2019) 45–53
Fig. 2. Photograph of the assembled CCF/TPU pressure sensor.
simple carbonization process, followed by immersed into the TPU
solution to prepare the CCF/TPU composite material. The obtained
composite material was then combined with interdigitated elec-
trodes to fabricate the desired flexible pressure sensor. Fig. 2
displays the photograph of assembled CCF/TPU pressure sensor.
Fig. 3a–c show the photographs of CF, CCF carbonized at
800 ◦ C and corresponding CCF/TPU composite, respectively. And
Fig. 3d–f show the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images
of CF, CCF carbonized at 800 ◦ C and corresponding CCF/TPU com-
posite, respectively. The pristine cotton fabric was white in color
(Fig. 3a), containing warp and weft yarns, which were composed
of natural cellulose fibers. After carbonization treatment, the cot-
ton fabric turned into black color (Fig. 3b), which converted into
distorted graphite-like carbon materials. There was a shrinkage of
45.24% and 81.97% in surface area and weight, respectively, and
the thickness was also reduced to 0.45 mm (easily integrate with
human body or textile), induced by the release of non-carbon ele-
ments during the high-temperature pyrolysis. As illustrated by the
SEM images of CF and CCF carbonized at 800 ◦ C (Fig. 3d–e), the
average diameter of carbon fibers in CCF was around 52̃0 ␮m, which
was smaller than that of raw cellulose fibers in CF (10–30 ␮m), thus
resulting in a reduction in surface area and weight. However, the
high-temperature carbonization did not damage the structure of
the fabric. As can be seen in Fig. 3e, the warp and weft structure
as well as fibrous morphology of the fabric were clearly observed,
and the structure of the CCF still retained very well. From the SEM
image of CCF/TPU composite material shown in Fig. 3f, the TPU
was uniformly coated on the fibers or in the fiber voids of the CCF,
which could function well as the flexible substrate. Fig. 3g shows
photograph of CCF/TPU composite material folded 90◦ and twisted
360◦ , respectively, demonstrating the high flexibility and elasticity
of CCF/TPU composite, which can be folded and twisted. Washa-
bility and mechanical reliability were demonstrated by a series of
tests. Fig. 3h shows the change in resistance of CCF and CCF/TPU
composite under the washing test. After eight washing cycles, the
resistance variation of CCF/TPU composite was slighter compared
to that of CCF, and there was little fluctuation in resistance vari-
ation after the fifth washing cycle, exhibiting that washing cycles
did not significantly affect the resistance of CCF/TPU composite.
Fig. 3i shows the typical stress-strain curve of CCF/TPU composite
47
Table 1
Atomic fraction of CF and CCF carbonized at 800 ◦ C.
Atomic fraction(%)
CF CCF
C 62.04 78.08
material. As can be seen from the figure, the breaking elongation
of CCF/TPU composite was up to 208%, showing excellent stretch-
ability and elasticity.
Fig. 4a–c show the SEM images of carbon fibers in CCF car-
bonized at 700 ◦ C, 800 ◦ C and 900 ◦ C, respectively. It can be seen
from the figure, as the carbonization temperature increased, the
carbon fibers had a smaller diameter, a higher degree of distor-
tion, and the fracture could be observed. The electrical conductivity
of CCF also varies with the carbonization temperature. Fig. 5a
shows the electrical conductivity of CCF and CCF/TPU composite
carbonized at 700 ◦ C, 800 ◦ C and 900 ◦ C, respectively. The conduc-
tivity of CCF was 7.34 × 10−3 S m−1 , 1.36 S m−1 and 5.36 S m−1 ,
respectively, indicating that the conductivity of CCF increased as
the carbonization temperature increased. Additionally, the pres-
ence of flexible substrate had no significant effect on the electrical
conductivity. Fig. 5b shows the Raman spectra of CCF carbonized
at different temperatures. From the Raman spectrum, it can be
observed that the G-band appears at 1588 cm-1 that related to crys-
talline sp2 carbon and the D-band appears at 1340 cm-1 that related
to defect or hetero atom doping, confirming that the cotton fiber
converted into highly conductive graphitized carbon fiber after car-
bonization. The graphitized degree of CCF is associated with the
intensity ratio of G and D bands (IG /ID ). It can be seen from the
figure that the graphitized degree of CCF increased along with the
increase of the carbonization temperature. The intensity ratio of
CCF carbonized at 900 ◦ C was about 1.15, indicating that the CCF
was partially graphitized carbon. The changes in the content of C
element before and after carbonization can be observed from the
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) survey spectrum (Fig. 5c).
After carbonization at 800 ◦ C, the atomic fraction of C element
increased from 62.04%–78.08% (Table 1). The increase in the content
of C element in CCF after carbonization has also been demonstrated
in the EDX mapping (Fig. 5e–h). The C 1s spectrum of the XPS for
the pressure sensor in Fig. 5d shows two peaks at 284.50 eV and
286.00 eV, which represent C C C and C O.
3.2. Electromechanical performance
The CCF/TPU composite material showed excellent flexibility
and electrical conductivity, making it potential candidate for flexi-
ble pressure sensor. To evaluate the electromechanical property of
the flexible CCF/TPU pressure sensor, a flexible sensor performance
test system consisting of a balance, a digit multimeter (Keysight
34410A) and a computer was designed, as shown in Fig. 6a. The
balance is utilized to apply pressure loading, the digit multime-
ter is used to measure resistance, the real-time pressure loading
and resistance during the test are recorded by the computer. The
sensing index of pressure sensors mainly includes pressure range,
sensitivity, hysteresis, detection limit and repeatability. The sensi-
tivity (S) of pressure sensors is defined as S=ı(R/R0 )/ıP, where
R = R0 -R, R0 , R and P denote the initial resistance, real-time
resistance and applied pressure, respectively. The hysteresis (H)
of pressure sensors is defined as H = (±Hmax /YFS ) × 100%, where
Hmax stands for the maximum difference in the ordinate of the
curve at the same pressure during loading and unloading, and YFS
represents the maximum ordinate in the full range. Through a series
of tests, the electromechanical performance of CCF/TPU pressure
sensor was demonstrated.
48 S. Chang et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 294 (2019) 45–53

Fig. 3. (a–c) Photographs of CF, CCF carbonized at 800 ◦ C and corresponding CCF/TPU composite, respectively. (d–f) SEM images of CF, CCF carbonized at 800 ◦ C and cor-
responding CCF/TPU composite, respectively. (g) Photograph of CCF/TPU composite folded 90◦ and twisted 360◦ , respectively. (h) Resistance change of CCF and CCF/TPU
composite under the washing test. (i) Stress-strain curve of CCF/TPU composite.

Fig. 4. (a–c) SEM images of CCF fibers carbonized at 700 ◦ C, 800 ◦ C and 900 ◦ C, respectively.

The CCF/TPU pressure sensor showed both ultrahigh sensitivity
in a large pressure range and ultralow hysteresis. Fig. 6b displays
the relative resistance change of the CCF/TPU pressure sensor car-
bonized at 800 ◦ C in a large sensing range from 0 to 16 kPa. A
monotonic increase in relative resistance variation was observed as
the pressure increased. And the slop of the curve represent the sen-
sitivity of pressure sensor. The plot was divided into three distinct
regions, corresponding to different slopes, i.e. sensitivity. The sensi-
tivity of the pressure sensor between 0–2 kPa was as high as 74.80
kPa−1 , the sensitivity between 2–5 kPa could reach 18.69 kPa−1 ,
and the sensitivity between 5–16 kPa reached 6.12 kPa−1 , demon-
strating the high sensitivity in large workable range for the flexible
CCF/TPU pressure sensor, which could be attributed to the natu-
ral porous carbon fiber network with high conductivity through
 S. Chang et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 294 (2019) 45–53 49

Fig. 5. (a) Electrical conductivity of CCF and CCF/TPU composite carbonized at 700 ◦ C, 800 ◦ C and 900 ◦ C, respectively. (b) Raman spectra of CCF carbonized at 700 ◦ C, 800 ◦ C
and 900 ◦ C, respectively. (c) XPS showing the C 1s spectrum of CCF carbonized at 800 ◦ C. (d) XPS survey spectrum of CF and CCF carbonized at 800 ◦ C. (e–h) EDX mapping of
CCF carbonized at 800 ◦ C. Elemental distribution of C, N, O in (e), O element content in (f), N element content in (g) and O element content in (h).

Fig. 6. (a) Photograph of the flexible sensor performance test system. (b) Relative resistance change of the flexible CCF/TPU pressure sensor versus applied pressure. (c)
Relative resistance change response of the flexible CCF/TPU pressure sensor under one loading-unloading cycle, showing hysteresis. (d) The relative resistance change
response of the flexible CCF/TPU pressure sensor under different pressure loading-unloading cycles. (e) Relative resistance change versus pressure of eight CCF/TPU pressure
sensors. (f) Relative resistance change response under one loading-unloading cycle for eight CCF/TPU pressure sensors, showing hysteresis. (g) Relative resistance change of
CCF/TPU pressure sensor at 0̃.70 Pa pressure, showing detection limit. (h) Relative resistance change response of CCF/TPU pressure sensor under 4000 cycles below 1 kPa,
showing repeatability and durability.
50 S. Chang et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 294 (2019) 45–53

Table 2
Comparison of electromechanical performance of recently reported carbon-based flexible pressure sensors.

Reference Materials Working pressure Sensitivity Repeatability Hysteresis (%) Detection limit
range (kPa) (kPa−1 ) (cycles) (Pa)

[52] Graphene/PDMS 0–25 1.2 1000 — —

[53] Graphene/polyaniline 0–27 0.152 9 000 — —
[54] PDMS 0–5 −15 1 000 — 4
[55] Carbon nanotubes/PDMS 0.02–5 0.7 5 000 — —
[56] Carbon nanotubes/PDMS 0.001–0.1 58.9 — — 1
[57] Graphene/PDMS 0–70 0.23 — — 1
[58] Carbon nanotubes/polyimide/Cellulose paper 0–110 0.549 10000 — —
[59] Cotton/Silver nanowires 0–1 3.5 5000 — —
This work CCF/TPU 0–16 74.80 4000 3.39 0.70

carbonization process. Fig. 6c plots the relative variation in resis-

tance for the CCF/TPU pressure sensor carbonized at 800 ◦ C during
a pressure loading-unloading cycle. The hysteresis was 3.39% by
calculation, which was lower than most reported pressure sen-
sors [49–51]. Low hysteresis demonstrated the excellent reliability
of the proposed flexible CCF/TPU-based pressure sensor, which is
critical for the practical application of flexible pressure sensors,
especially in the case of dynamic stresses. Such advantage could be
attributed to the little viscoelasticity induced by low concentration
TPU solution.
The CCF/TPU pressure sensor showed superior stability and
repeatability. Fig. 6d presents the response of relative resistance
change for the CCF/TPU pressure sensor carbonized at 800 ◦ C under
loading-unloading cycles with different pressures. As can be seen
from the figure, when pressure was applied from 0.39 kPa to
2.16 kPa, the minimum relative resistance change monotonically
decreased along with the increase of pressure, demonstrating that
the pressure sensor exhibited superior stability, which could clearly
detect and distinguish different pressure loadings. The stability was
also confirmed by Fig. 6e and f, which showed sensitivity curve
Fig. 7. Sensitivity of CCF/TPU pressure sensor carbonized at 700 ◦ C, 800 ◦ C and
and hysteresis phenomenon of eight CCF/TPU pressure sensors. The
900 ◦ C, respectively.
highly coincident curves demonstrated the nearly identical sensi-
tivity and hysteresis of eight CCF/TPU pressure sensors from the
figure, confirming the stability and repeatability of CCF/TPU based with the interdigitated electrodes. Therefore, the contact resis-
pressure sensor. tance between the carbon fibers in CCF, as well as between CCF
In addition, the CCF/TPU pressure sensor showed excellent and the interdigitated electrodes, determine the final resistance
reliability and durability with low detection limit of 0̃.70 Pa and of the entire device. When pressure is applied, increased contact
repeatability of >4000 cycles. The detection limit of the CCF/TPU between the carbon fibers, as well as between the CCF and interdig-
pressure sensor carbonized at 800 ◦ C was investigated by placing itated electrodes, due to compression causes a decrease in electrical
tiny items on it, as can be seen in Fig. 6g. When an object with a resistance, allowing the sensor to sense pressure.
mass of 15.00 mg and a pressure of 0̃.70 Pa was put on the pres- In addition, the influence of carbonization temperature on the
sure sensor, a significant signal change was observed, indicating electromechanical property of the flexible pressure sensor was
that the pressure sensor can detect a pressure as low as 0.70 Pa. also discussed. The CCF with carbonization temperature at 700 ◦ C,
Fig. 6h shows the relative variation in resistance of the CCF/TPU 800 ◦ C and 900 ◦ C, respectively, was assembled into pressure sensor
pressure sensors carbonized at 800 ◦ C for 4000 loading-unloading using the same process to perform electromechanical tests. Fig. 7
cycles test under a pressure of 3 kPa. The electrical response of the shows the sensitivity of CCF/TPU pressure sensor with carboniza-
CCF/TPU pressure sensor remained substantially stable after 4000 tion temperature at 700 ◦ C, 800 ◦ C and 900 ◦ C, respectively. It was
loading-unloading cycles from the figure, confirming the excel- observed that the sensitivity of CCF/TPU pressure sensor carbonized
lent repeatability and durability. In summary, the flexible CCF/TPU at 800 ◦ C was the most excellent from the figure. As mentioned
pressure sensor exhibits excellent electromechanical performance above, carbonization treatment turns cotton fibers into graphite-
through a simple manufacture process, which is more outstanding like carbon fibers, thereby imparting electrical conductivity to the
than that of those recently reported carbon-based flexible pressure fabric. Additionally, the graphitized degree and electrical conduc-
sensors (Table 2) [52–59]. tivity of the fabric increases along with the rise of carbonization
temperature. Note that the carbonization treatment causes car-
bon fiber breakage, and the number of broken fibers increases as
3.3. Working mechanism the carbonization temperature rises, thereby affecting the contact
between carbon fibers. Based on this, the phenomenon that the
The working mechanism of resistive-type pressure sensors is difference in carbonization temperature brings different sensitiv-
the change in resistance caused by the variation of inner conduct- ity can be explained as following: (1) carbonization treatment at
ing paths and the contact resistance between the nearby conductive the temperature of 700 ◦ C forms carbon fibers with a low degree
fillers when pressure is applied [60,61]. In the as-prepared CCF/TPU of graphited structure, and the poor conductivity results in unsat-
pressure sensor, the carbon fibers with conductivity are distributed isfying sensitivity; (2) carbonization treatment at the temperature
in a flexible substrate without conductivity, followed by combined of 900 ◦ C forms highly conductive carbon fibers. However, a large
 S. Chang et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 294 (2019) 45–53
Fig. 8. Applications of the flexible CCF/TPU pressure sensor. (a) The detection of the CCF/TPU pressure sensor on the object with tiny mass. (b) The real-time monitoring of
the CCF/TPU pressure sensor on the human body pulse. (c) The detection of the CCF/TPU pressure sensor on the finger bending activity of the. (d) The detection of the CCF/TPU
pressure sensor on the wrist bending activity.
number of fiber fractures lead to a decrease in fiber-to-fiber contact,
thus causing poor sensitivity; (3) carbonization at a temperature
of 800 ◦ C forms satisfying conductive carbon fibers with moderate
fracture, resulting in excellent sensitivity.
3.4. Practical applications
Based on the superior flexibility and electromechanical per-
formance consisting of large pressure range, high sensitivity, low
hysteresis, low detection limit and high durability, the flexible
CCF/TPU pressure sensors exhibits attractive potential in the field
of flexible wearable devices, such as the full-range and real-time
detection of human body motion.
The ability of CCF/TPU pressure sensor to detect weak pressure
signals by placing certain objects with slight mass on it was demon-
strated, as shown in Fig. 8a. When a grain of rice weighing 17.44 mg
was placed on the CCF/TPU pressure sensor, the relative change
in resistance of the pressure sensor rose significantly, and differ-
ent relative resistance variation induced by the different number
of rice could be observed, the relative resistance change increase
with increasing quantity, demonstrating that our flexible pressure
sensor could accurately detect and distinguish weak signal. Fig. 8b
shows the splendid capability of CCF/TPU pressure sensor to detect
the wrist pulse in real time. As shown in the illustration, the pres-
sure sensor could be well fixed on the radial artery of human wrist
using a medical bandage due to the excellent softness and flexibility
of the sensor. The typical peaks of the pulse waveform, P (percus-
sion) wave, T (tidal) wave and D (diastolic) wave, were recognized
by the flexible pressure sensor on the wrist, confirming the excel-
lent potential of the CCF/TPU pressure sensor to monitor the weak
pulse signal of the human body in real time.
In addition to monitoring weak signals, our flexible CCF/TPU
pressure sensor can monitor large human activities due to its large
51
workable pressure range. As shown in Fig. 8c, the finger bending
activities can be monitored in real time by attaching the pres-
sure sensor on the finger with a medical bandage. When the finger
bent in the same interval, the electrical signal changed regularly,
which demonstrated that the pressure sensor could continuously
and accurately monitor large activities of the human body. Fig. 8d
displays the signal detection diagram of wrist bending activi-
ties by the pressure sensor. The pressure sensor was attached to
the wrist, and the movement of the wrist was monitored by the
change of the electrical signal. When the wrist alternately per-
formed straightening and bending, the electrical signal changed
regularly.
4. Conclusion
In conclusion, by a simple and scalable preparation process, a
CCF/TPU-based wearable flexible pressure sensor with both high
sensitivity and low hysteresis was fabricated. The CCF converted
from the cotton fabric by simple pyrolysis process exhibited excel-
lent flexibility and conductivity, making it an ideal material for
flexible pressure sensors. Owing to the natural porous network
of carbon fibers with high conductivity in CCF and the flexible
substrate with low viscoelasticity, the proposed pressure sensor
showed superior electromechanical performances containing high
sensitivity in a large pressure range, low hysteresis, low detec-
tion limit and excellent durability. Furthermore, it was observed
that the carbonization temperature affects the electromechanical
performances of flexible pressure sensor, and the pressure sensor
carbonized at 800 ◦ C was demonstrated to have more excellent sen-
sitivity. Therefore, the CCF/TPU pressure sensors is envisioned to
have great development prospects in the field of flexible wearable
electronics.
52 S. Chang et al. / Sensors and Actuators A 294 (2019) 45–53
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of
Tianjin (Grant No.18JCYBJC18500), the Postdoctoral Science Foun-
dation of China (Grant No. 2016M591390), and the China National
Textile And Apparel Council (Grant No. 2017060).
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Biographies
Shengnan Chang, Master student of School of Textile Science and Engineering, Tian-
jin Polytechnic University, Tianjin (China). Her research focuses on the development
of flexible pressure sensors.
Jin Li, Professor of School of Textile Science and Engineering, Tianjin Polytechnic
University, Tianjin (China). Her research activity concerns with knitting garment
technology and product development.
Yin He, Lecturer of School Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin (China). Her
research activity concerns with the development of flexible pressure sensors.
Hao Liu, Associate Professor of School of Textile Science and Engineering, Tian-
jin Polytechnic University, Tianjin (China). His research activity concerns with the
development of flexible sensors.
Bowen Cheng, Professor of School of Textile Science and Engineering, Tianjin Poly-
technic University, Tianjin (China). His research activity concerns with nonwoven
materials.