Self-powered low-range pressure sensor using biopolymer composites

The wearable, flexible, non-toxic, and biocompatible pressure sensors have gained a lot of interest in recent years due to the potential application of transducing physical phenomena like pressure and temperature into electrical signals. This paper presents a novel approach of using pectin–PEG–graphite (PPEGG) composite as a pressure sensing material that is biocompatible, self-powering, degradable, non-toxic, flexible, and capable of sensing low-pressure range (0.1–1 kPa). The practical application of the self-powered PPEGG composite sensor device was tested with various external pressure imparting like finger touch, touch with non-conducting and conducting objects, blowing of air, and weight loading response. The fabricated PPEGG pressure sensor is very sensitive toward finger touch, shows a voltage rise of up to 5 V under finger imparted pressure, and is also capable of differentiating different touch responses. This work also studies the effect of the addition of varying concentrations of conductive graphite fillers (10%, 20%, and 30%), and results showed better stability and piezoelectric response. Graphical abstract