journal article·2025-12

A High‐Performance Pressure Sensor Combining the Biomimetic Structures of Shark and Crocodile Skins

Jiarui He, Ruolan Zhao, Zhanfeng Guo, Yifan Li, Yuhan Zhao, Liwei Liang, Shourui Ji, He Tian

Advanced Functional Materials· Volume 35· Issue 52
Publisher page

Abstract

Abstract Flexible pressure sensors have shown great potential in the fields of electronic skin, healthcare, and intelligent robots. However, how to balance the high sensitivity and wide working range of the sensors remains a challenge. Inspired by micrometer‐level shark ridge‐like scales and millimeter‐level crocodile skin with multi‐level dome structures, this study introduces an innovative sensor design concept cross‐scale complementary composite flexible pressure sensor combination strategy, and develops three bioinspired sensor architectures: Shark‐Shark (S‐S), Crocodile‐Crocodile (C‐C), and Crocodile‐Shark (C‐S). The S‐S design, leveraging microscale ridge‐like scaly structure, achieves exceptional sensitivity (32 kPa −1 ) in low‐pressure regimes (0–2.5 kPa), making it ideal for high‐precision applications like acoustic monitoring. The C‐C design employs millimeter‐scale domes to enable stable deformation and signal output under high pressures (≈100 kPa), excelling in scenarios such as gait analysis. The C‐S design synergistically integrates both biological structures, offering comprehensive pressure detection across a wide range (1 Pa–80 kPa) with high sensitivity (18.2 kPa −1 ), outstanding stability (20 000 cycles), and rapid dynamic response (21/28 ms response/recovery times). Its universality is demonstrated in complex applications like pulse monitoring, limb motion analysis, and adaptive robotic grasping. This performance‐balancing strategy establishes a new paradigm for optimizing the sensitivity‐range trade‐off in next‐generation flexible pressure sensors.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials · Analytical Chemistry and Sensors · Tactile and Sensory Interactions

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

School of Integrated Circuits Tsinghua University Beijing 100084 P. R. China

Beijing National Research Center for information Science and Technology (BNRist) Tsinghua University Beijing 100084 P. R. China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · Tsinghua University · Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality · Innovative Research Group Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China

References (53)

Show source-provided references
1. 10.1039/D3TA06976A10.1039/D3TA06976A ↗
2. 10.1002/smll.20230665510.1002/smll.202306655 ↗
3. 10.1007/s40820-022-00874-w10.1007/s40820-022-00874-w ↗
4. 10.1002/adfm.20230931610.1002/adfm.202309316 ↗
5. Min S. · Nat. Rev. Cardiol. · 2025 · 1
6. 10.1016/j.apmt.2025.10261410.1016/j.apmt.2025.102614 ↗
7. 10.1016/j.cej.2024.15408310.1016/j.cej.2024.154083 ↗
8. 10.1016/j.scib.2021.02.01910.1016/j.scib.2021.02.019 ↗
9. 10.1016/j.nanoen.2023.10914010.1016/j.nanoen.2023.109140 ↗
10. 10.1002/adfm.20160606610.1002/adfm.201606066 ↗
11. 10.1002/adfm.20180850910.1002/adfm.201808509 ↗
12. 10.1002/adma.20231276110.1002/adma.202312761 ↗
13. 10.1016/j.mser.2024.10089110.1016/j.mser.2024.100891 ↗
14. 10.1038/srep0860310.1038/srep08603 ↗
15. 10.1021/acsami.4c1469110.1021/acsami.4c14691 ↗
16. 10.1021/acsami.3c1878810.1021/acsami.3c18788 ↗
17. 10.1021/acssensors.3c0200110.1021/acssensors.3c02001 ↗
18. 10.1016/j.measurement.2022.11181710.1016/j.measurement.2022.111817 ↗
19. 10.1016/j.orgel.2021.10629010.1016/j.orgel.2021.106290 ↗
20. 10.1016/j.cej.2024.15395710.1016/j.cej.2024.153957 ↗
21. 10.1021/acsami.0c1431410.1021/acsami.0c14314 ↗
22. 10.1126/sciadv.abn215610.1126/sciadv.abn2156 ↗
23. 10.1016/j.cis.2023.10298810.1016/j.cis.2023.102988 ↗
24. 10.1039/D3TA05568J10.1039/D3TA05568J ↗
25. 10.1007/s42242-022-00220-410.1007/s42242-022-00220-4 ↗
26. 10.1002/adhm.20230100510.1002/adhm.202301005 ↗
27. 10.1109/JSEN.2021.309734910.1109/JSEN.2021.3097349 ↗
28. 10.1016/j.compscitech.2022.10983710.1016/j.compscitech.2022.109837 ↗
29. 10.1002/admt.20190078910.1002/admt.201900789 ↗
30. 10.1002/adfm.20230659110.1002/adfm.202306591 ↗
31. 10.1002/adfm.20231447910.1002/adfm.202314479 ↗
32. 10.1016/j.cej.2025.16205310.1016/j.cej.2025.162053 ↗
33. 10.1038/s41467-021-21958-y10.1038/s41467-021-21958-y ↗
34. 10.1021/acsnano.9b0345410.1021/acsnano.9b03454 ↗
35. 10.1021/acsanm.2c0454810.1021/acsanm.2c04548 ↗
36. 10.1002/adfm.20210907610.1002/adfm.202109076 ↗
37. 10.1016/j.mee.2020.11137010.1016/j.mee.2020.111370 ↗
38. 10.1002/aelm.20170058610.1002/aelm.201700586 ↗
39. 10.1021/acsami.9b0251810.1021/acsami.9b02518 ↗
40. 10.1021/acsami.7b0197910.1021/acsami.7b01979 ↗
41. 10.1016/j.sna.2020.11253210.1016/j.sna.2020.112532 ↗
42. 10.1002/admt.20210012210.1002/admt.202100122 ↗
43. 10.1021/nn500441k10.1021/nn500441k ↗
44. 10.1021/acsami.9b0626010.1021/acsami.9b06260 ↗
45. 10.1016/j.compositesb.2021.10924310.1016/j.compositesb.2021.109243 ↗
46. 10.1021/acssensors.3c0081810.1021/acssensors.3c00818 ↗
47. 10.1002/pc.2913410.1002/pc.29134 ↗
48. 10.1002/advs.20240808210.1002/advs.202408082 ↗
49. 10.1002/adma.20241031210.1002/adma.202410312 ↗
50. 10.1088/1674-4926/45/4/04170110.1088/1674-4926/45/4/041701 ↗
51. 10.1088/1674-4926/45/5/05170110.1088/1674-4926/45/5/051701 ↗
52. 10.1088/1674-4926/44/8/08200110.1088/1674-4926/44/8/082001 ↗
53. 10.1088/1674-4926/44/3/03200110.1088/1674-4926/44/3/032001 ↗