Miniaturized Flexible Piezoresistive Pressure Sensors: Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):Poly(styrenesulfonate) Copolymers Blended with Graphene Oxide for Biomedical Applications.

Abstract

Piezoresistive pressure sensors have garnered significant attention because of their wide applications in automobiles, intelligent buildings, and biomedicine. For in-vivo testing, the size of pressure sensors is a vital factor to monitor the pressure of specific portions of a human body. Therefore, the primary focus of this study is to miniaturize piezoresistive pressure sensors with graphene oxide (GO)-incorporated poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) composite films on a flexible substrate for biomedical applications. Prior to the fabrication of pressure sensors, a comprehensive material analysis was applied to identify the horizontal placement of GO flakes within the PEDOT:PSS copolymers, revealing a reduction in variable range hopping (VRH) distance and an enhancement in carrier mobility. For devices scaled to 0.2 cm, the sensitivity of the PEDOT:PSS pressure sensors was conspicuously decreased owing to the late response, which can be effectively solved by GO incorporation. Using technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations, the current crowded at the PEDOT:PSS film surface and in the vicinity of an indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrode corner was found to be responsible for the changes in piezoresistive behaviors of the scaled devices. The miniaturized flexible piezoresistive pressure sensors with PEDOT:PSS/GO composite films are capable of monitoring the brain pressure of intracranial surgery of a rat and discerning different styles of music for a potential application in hearing aids.