Controlled Assembly of MXene Nanosheets as an Electrode and Active Layer for High-Performance Electronic Skin

MXenes are an emerging class of 2D transition metal carbides and nitrides. They have been widely used in flexible electronics owing to their excellent conductivity, mechanical flexibility, and water dispersibility. In this study, the electrode and active layer applications of MXene materials in electronic skins are realized. By utilizing vacuum filtration technology, few-layer MXene electrodes are integrated onto the top and bottom surfaces of the 3D polyacrylonitrile (PAN) network to form a stable electronic skin. The fabricated flexible device with Ti3C2Tx MXene electrodes outperforms those with other electrodes and exhibits excellent device performance, with a high sensitivity of 104.0 kPa(-1), fast response/recovery time of 30/20 ms, and a low detection limit of 1.5 Pa. Furthermore, the electrode and the constructed MXene/PAN-based flexible pressure sensor exhibit robust mechanical stability and can survive 240 bending cycles. Such a robust, flexible device can be enlarged or folded like a jigsaw puzzle or origami and transformed from 2D to 3D structures; moreover, it can detect tiny movements of human muscles, such as movements corresponding to sound production and intense movements during bending of fingers.