Supporting Information
A stretchable self-powered triboelectric tactile sensor with EGaIn
alloy electrode for ultra-low-pressure detection
Jingjing Wang#, Peng Cui#, Jingjing Zhang, Ying Ge, Xiaolan Liu, Ningning Xuan, Guangqin
Gu, Gang Cheng*, Zuliang Du*
Key Lab for Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, National & Local Joint
Engineering Research Center for High-efficiency Display and Lighting Technology,
Collaborative Innovation Center of Nano Functional Materials and Applications, School of
Materials Science and Engineering, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China
#
These authors contributed equally.
1
Figure S1. The three-dimensional topography images of the flat PDMS (left) and PDMS with multi-leveled
structures (right) using a profilometry.
Figure S2. Optical image of the composite electrode layer, top view (left), cross-section (right). (Scale bar: 100
μm, 200 μm, respectively). With sufficient amount of liquid metal, this composite shows stable conductivity
under stretching (100%). The function of the PDMS in the composite is to balance the modulus of the liquid
metal with the triboelectric layer (PDMS). Thus, the stability of the device under stretching state is ensured.
Comparing with liquid metal coating electrode, leakage of liquid metal is effectively prevented. (Encapsulations
are only needed at the edges.) The crystal at the bottom of the sample is ice which is formed while settling
under the optical microscope since the sample has been treated in liquid nitrogen. Since the sample contains the
encapsulation layers, we mark the electrode area with the blue dash lines.
2
Figure S3. Output voltage of the triboelectric tactile sensor under multiple loading cycles with applied pressure
of 0.23 Pa.
Figure S4. Sensitivities of the triboelectric tactile sensor with the triboelectric layer of non-structured PDMS.
3
Figure S5. Output voltage of the triboelectric tactile sensor under different frequency (0.25 Hz、0.5 Hz、1 Hz
and 2 Hz) with applied pressure of 12.24 kPa.
Figure S6. The response and recovery time of the triboelectric tactile sensor are 26 ms and 32 ms, respectively,
with the applying pressure is 35 kPa.
4
Figure S7. Illustration of the triboelectric tactile sensors with EGaIn alloy electrode (left) and metal electrode
(right). Compared with conventional flat metal electrode, the triboelectric tactile sensor we have prepared has a
relatively larger contact area between the dielectric layer and the electrode due to the sphere-shape of the
connected EGaIn particles. For the devices with the same dimension, our device has larger dielectric/metal
interfaces. Thus, the performance of the triboelectric tactile sensor is enhanced than the conventional one.
5
Table S1. Sensitivity comparision of triboelectric tactile sensors with multi-level structured PDMS and non-
structured PDMS triboelectric layers.
Type of Triboelectric Layer Detection Limit Detection Range Sensitivity
K1: 0.293 mV/Pa
Multi-level structured PDMS 0.23 Pa 0.23 Pa - 95.95 kPa
K2: 0.103 mV/Pa
K1: 0.253 mV/Pa
Non-structured PDMS 3.31 Pa 3.31 Pa - 95.95 kPa
K2: 0.031 mV/Pa
Table S2. Sensitivities of three different triboelectric tactile sensors, each device has been tested for three times.
Tested tactile sensors K1 K2
0.293 0.103
Sensor 1 0.279 0.097
0.283 0.098
0.263 0.106
Sensor 2 0.276 0.109
0.291 0.099
0.302 0.086
Sensor 3 0.309 0.102
0.295 0.101
Variance 0.000177 0.000038
