Femtosecond laser-induced graphene for temperature and ultrasensitive flexible strain sensing

Abstract

Flexible sensors with high sensitivity and stability are essential components of electronic skin, applicable to detecting human movement, monitoring physiological health, preventing diseases, and other domains. In this study, we utilized a straightforward and efficient femtosecond laser direct writing technique using phenolic resin (PR) as a carbon precursor to produce high-quality laser-induced graphene (LIG) characterized by high crystallinity and low defect density. The fabricated LIG underwent comprehensive characterization using SEM, Raman spectroscopy, XPS, and XRD. Subsequently, we developed strain sensors with a hexagonal honeycomb pattern and temperature sensors with a line pattern based on PR-derived LIG. The strain sensor exhibited an outstanding measurement factor of 4.16 × 10⁴ with a rapid response time of 32 ms, which is applied to detect various movements like finger movements and human pulse. Meanwhile, the temperature sensor demonstrated a sensitivity of 1.49%/°C with a linear response range of 20–50 °C. The PR-derived LIG shows promising potential for applications in human physiological health monitoring and other advanced wearable technologies.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

femtosecond laser / laser-induced graphene / flexible sensor / high sensitivity

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Authors’ contributions

M.G. and Z.Z. performed writing of the manuscript, designing of figures, and preparation of the initial draft of the manuscript; W.Z. and Y.G. reviewed and edited the manuscript; S.W. and X.L. provided valuable guidance. All authors have read and agreed to the final version of this manuscript.

Declaration of competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests relevant to the content of this article.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2022YFB4600400) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52275401).

Online appendix

Electronic supplementary material (ESM) can be found in the online version at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11706-024-0696-6 and https://journal.hep.com.cn/foms/EN/10.1007/s11706-024-0696-6 that includes Figs. S1–S6.

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