International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology (2023) 10:97–107 Online ISSN 2198-0810

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40684-022-00432-0 Print ISSN 2288-6206

REGULAR PAPER

Additive‑Manufactured Flexible Triboelectric Sensor Based on Porous

PDMS Sponge for Highly Detecting Joint Movements
Seo‑Yeon So1,2 · Suk‑Hee Park3 · Sang‑Hu Park3 · Gi‑Myeong Gwak4 · Sung‑Ki Lyu4

Received: 22 September 2021 / Revised: 4 February 2022 / Accepted: 20 March 2022 / Published online: 25 April 2022
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Korean Society for Precision Engineering 2022

Abstract
A hybrid sequential additive manufacturing process combined an extrusion syringe and a fused deposition modeling is
developed to fabricate a porous PDMS based triboelectric sensor easily and environmentally. The porosity of the PDMS
is controlled by using wet sugar particle sizes, and we fabricate a porous PDMS plate with a pore-to-volume ratio of 46%,
which has 11 times larger internal contact area and 52.4% softer mechanical strength compared to a non-porous one. So, two
key factors for high performance triboelectric sensor is obtained using the proposed method. A cylinder-shaped triboelectric
sensor impregnated carbon black particles on the porous PDMS matrix, which is wearable on a finger, is fabricated for evalu-
ation of its characteristics on detecting finger joint movements. From the experimental results, the sensor shows the ability
to help quantitatively analyze finger movements, therefore, the proposed flexible triboelectric sensor can apply to athletes or
patients around their knees, wrists, or other joints to analyze their physical behavior. Also, we believe that it can be utilized
to measure various physical signals such as contact force, gripping force, and pressure with small values.

Keywords Additive manufacturing · Triboelectric sensor · Porous PDMS · Carbon black particle · Joint movement sensing

1 Introduction muscle seizure, and other useful signals. They can also be
used in rehabilitation medicine or healthcare applications
Recently, technologies that convert physical or chemi- where large-displacement signals, such as musculoskeletal
cal signals into electrical signals to provide the necessary system movements, need to be detected [1].
information can be used to implement biosignal monitor- Since the 1980s, with the development of manufac-
ing devices or human–machine interface systems. Highly turing technology of micro-sized sensors, a great deal of
sensitive physical sensors, in particular, are now capable of research has focused on developing ultra-compact sensors
detecting and recognizing subtle body movements and force based on micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) [2, 3].
transmission, even very large movements. These sensors are However, most of these sensors are made of materials with
thus suitable for measuring various types and ranges of dis- high stiffness and difficult to renewable thus, they are dif-
placements and forces in a human body. This technology ficult to apply to curved surfaces like a human bodyline or
can be used to develop health monitoring devices, which to places where a high degree of flexibility is required [4].
read bio-signals measured from the skin including pulse rate, In addition, a silicon-based MEMS process is far from green
manufacturing technology because the process utilizes a lot
of liquids and gases such as photoresists, etching agents of
* Sang‑Hu Park KOH, TMAH, ­XeF2, and ­BrF3 which are not eco-friendly
[email protected] materials, during the manufacturing sensors. Therefore, till
1 now, there are a lot of research related on green-fabrication
School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan Nat’l Univ.,
Geumjeong‑gu, Busan 46241, Korea of flexible sensors has been conducted and reported [5].
2 Given that biosignal or human motion monitoring sensors
Present Address: Angel-Robotics Co., Seoul, Korea
in healthcare applications, in particular, require sufficient flex-
3
School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan Nat’l ibility, many research works have been conducted for the past
Univ./ERC-NSDM, Geumjeong‑gu, Busan 46241, Korea
two decades on developing sensors and devices using flexible
4
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, materials [6–9]. Further, such research works have extended
Gyeongsang Nat’l Univ., 501 Jinju‑daero, Jinju 52828, Korea

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98 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology (2023) 10:97–107

their objectives to implementing wearable flexible sensors for 2 Theoretical Study

detecting biosignals [10] and electronic skin capable of sens-
ing micro pressure changes [11]. With the recent advances of Triboelectric sensors operate based on contact electrifica-
additive manufacturing (AM) process technology, it is now tion, i.e., the gain and loss of electrons resulting from fric-
possible using a range of materials to develop sensors of vari- tion generated when two materials with different electric
ous three-dimensional shapes, which are completely different charging properties come in contact. When these materi-
from the previous sensors in many aspects [12]. Leigh et al. als repeatedly come in and out of contact, electrons start
[13] developed sensors using conductive materials via the AM. to move through the contact interface, and this leads to an
In other studies, customized methods for fabricating sensors imbalance in charges between the two surface sides, allow-
were proposed in which sensors were fabricated using conduc- ing a current to flow through wires attached to the both
tive materials via the AM and then directly inserted to a target materials, that is, electricity generation [27, 32, 33]. Figure 1
product [14, 15]. illustrates the operation mechanism of triboelectric sensors,
Highly sensitive physical sensors can be classified accord- in which current flow is enabled by the friction generated
ing to the operation method as piezoresistive sensors, piezo- when two facing materials with different charging properties
electric sensors, and triboelectric sensors [16–19]. Research come into contact [28]. Accordingly, the electrical signals
works are currently underway to apply the AM process to generated by triboelectric sensors are affected by the contact
sensor fabrication in an attempt to improve the overall perfor- area between two charging materials. This means that the
mance of flexible sensors. For example, Kim et al. reported performance of triboelectric sensors can be highly improved
the development of sensors applicable to artificial skin using by increasing the contact area of the materials, for example
the AM [18]. Meanwhile, the growing demand for wearable by allowing them to have a porous structure. As can be seen
devices [20, 21] has focused a lot of attention on how these in Fig. 2a, CB particle (Vulcan XC72, Carbot Co., USA), a
devices are worked well without supplying electric energy. conductive material, was doped to a PDMS (Sylgard-184,
Some research works are thus being actively conducted on Dow Corning Co., USA) matrix with porous structures, and
the development of triboelectric sensors. In attempts to obtain an external load was then applied to the PDMS matrix to
information based on friction generated during body move- cause mechanical changes to its porous structures and thus
ments, Ding et al. developed triboelectric sensors for sleep frictional contact within the structures, generating electrical
monitoring [22], and Li et al. developed triboelectric sensors signals. As shown in Fig. 2b, the PDMS matrix is a non-con-
capable of detecting subtle mechanical movements [23]. Fan ductor and therefore serves as a dielectric material. When
et al. [24] and Jang et al. [25] developed electricity-generating contact occurs within the porous structures of the PDMS
devices based on the mechanism of triboelectricity. Existing matrix via mechanical deformation, the charges within the
triboelectric sensors are mostly designed to use electricity dielectric material start to move through dielectric polari-
generated when contact electrification materials in the form zation. As depicted in Fig. 2b, these charges can move to a
of plates repeatedly come in and out of surface contact with limited extent because the applied dielectric material is a
each other. Thus, the contact area needs to be increased to non-conductor. However, when it comes in contact with CB
improve performance, and this definitely leads to an increase containing free charges while generating friction, the posi-
in the size of sensors. In the present study, a process technol- tive charges start to attract electrons and, accordingly, the
ogy for fabricating high-efficiency triboelectric sensors with electrons of CB as a conductor will move toward the PDMS
different shapes was proposed in which carbon black (CB) as
a charging material was applied to a porous polydimethylsi-
loxane (PDMS) matrix via a material-extrusion based AM.
Carbon black is a form of para-crystalline carbon with a high
surface area to volume ratio and is known as an unsuitable
biomaterial, but has been widely used for industrial applica-
tions such as paints, inks, and plastics [26]. Furthermore, a
finger thimble-shaped triboelectric sensor was fabricated using
the proposed method and evaluated for its applicability to the
healthcare industry.

Fig. 1  Schematic diagram of a triboelectric mechanism for generation

of electric signals

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International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology (2023) 10:97–107 99

obtained from the Eqs. (1) and (2) to be approximately 11

times larger compared to that of the matrix without pores.
Therefore, the use of a porous matrix is expected to increase
the performance of triboelectric sensors dramatically with
better sensitivity.

3 Experimental Details

3.1 Hybrid Extrusion Process

(a) A hybrid extrusion additive manufacturing system is com-
posed of dual AM processing modules; one is a 1.8 mm-
diameter nozzle module for building an outer-edge hard
frame, and the other is a syringe module having 0.4 mm-
diameter needle, which extrudes the liquid-state PDMS mix-
ture into the frame, as shown in Fig. 3a. The first module is
designed to build a hard frame via the fused deposition mod-
eling (FDM), in which a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) filament
(E-Sun Co., China), a thermoplastic material, is extruded
through nozzles heated up high temperature. And then, the
mixture of PDMS (Sylard-184 A and B) is extruded in a liq-
(b) uid state at room temperature (approximately 25 °C) through
a syringe module which is pumped by a pneumatic com-
Fig. 2  a Schematic diagram of working mechanism of a triboelectric pressor working pressure of less than 7 bar. The mixture of
sensor with a porous PDMS matrix impregnated carbon black (CB) PDMS applied in the syringe module was the combination of
particles (P denotes pressure) and b basic principles of electricity
generation between CB and the PDMS matrix induced by friction a prepolymer (Sylard-184 A) and a curing agent (Sylard-184
B) with a mixing ratio by weight of 8:2, respectively [29].
The specifications of the two-way extrusion AM system
matrix. This causes the CB to be positively charged, while developed in this work are presented in Table 1.
the non-conductor becomes negatively charged, leading to Cura3.0 (Ultimaker B.V., Netherlands), a commercial soft-
instantaneous electricity generation. ware, was employed for three-dimensional (3D) AM process-
As described above, the performance of triboelectric sen- ing, through which the printing path, speed, and extrusion
sors is affected by the contact area between the two confront- amounts were controlled. The detailed fabrication process was
ing materials. This contact area can be calculated using a described as follows. First, the first outer frame including bot-
simple model, as follows. When the matrix is assumed as a tom structure was built with the barrier height of 1 mm via the
cuboid with dimensions of a × b × c in x-, y-, and z-direction, FDM module under nozzle temperature of 200 °C. In the FEM
the contact area for charging can be expressed as a × b. How- process, the spacing between lines can affect the surface mor-
ever, if the used matrix is porous, the area of the pores also phology of the outer frame and the replicated PDMS matrix,
needs to be considered. Assuming all pores are supposed as but it does not significantly influence on the performance of
spherical shapes with the same radius of r, and the number the triboelectric sensor. Then, three categorized sizes of pow-
of pores is n, the pore area can be calculated using Eq. (1) dered sugar were placed in the frame and leveled so that the
below: sugar powder was the same height of the frame. After that, a
small amount of water mist, approximately 1 ml was sprayed
4𝜋 × r2 × n (1) using a commercially available hand spray to make the sugar
powders stick to each other, thereby forming an interconnec-
(a × b × c) × Pv(%) ÷ (4∕3𝜋 × r3 ) (2) tion network of sugar powder and dissolving the inner sugar
powder into water in the next step. That is the reason why
By using Eq. (2), the total number of pores (n) can be
the pores are generated in the PDMS matrix inside. On the
calculated within the cuboid when the porosity of the porous
top surface of this layer, the mixture of PDMS was patterned
matrix by volume, Pv (%), is given. If the pore radius, r is
using the syringe module and cured for more than 30 min at
assumed as 0.25 mm, and the Pv is given as 46%, the contact
temperature of about 60 ℃ heated wind using a commercially
area for the corresponding porous triboelectric sensor can be
available heat gun (GHG16-50, BOSCH Co., Rumania). This

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process was repeated until the designed shape and height were
achieved. Most of the processing time is taken to cure the pat-
terned PDMS. To build up one layer with 1 mm thickness, it
takes 32 to 35 min. After the hybrid AM processing was fin-
ished, the fabricated specimen was demolded from the frame,
and the demolded PDMS matrix was further cured using a hot
blower at a temperature condition of 70 ℃ for about 1 h. Then,
in order to obtain a porous PDMS sponge, it was soaked in a
water vessel at 50 °C for at least 1 h until the sugar powders
were completely dissolved.
(a)
3.2 Parametric Study on Porous PDMS

The PDMS liquid prepolymer mixture was filled using the

syringe module in a rectangular frame with in-plane size of
40 × 40 mm and a height of 2 mm, then the sugar powders
in the plate were dissolved by water at temperature of 50 °C
for 1 h. The detail processes for the fabrication of a PDMS
sponge plate is described in Fig. 3c. Using the simple rec-
tangular PDMS sponge, fundamental process parameters and
characteristics were studied in this work.
The porosity of the resultant PDMS matrix was controlled
(b) by varying the size of the sugar powder particles. Two mesh
filters were utilized to sieve and to prepare three size categories
of sugar powder; ①less than 200 µm, ②200 to 300 µm, and
③more than 300 µm. Table 2 describes three categories of
sugar powder used in this work regarding powder sizes. Fifty
sugar powder samples for each size category were randomly
selected, sized, and averaged using an optical microscope
(MA200, Nikon Co., Japan). The fabricated porous PDMS
specimen was subjected to tomography using a computed
tomography (CT) system (Micro Focus 3D CT System, Nikon,
(c)
Japan) at a measuring space height of 38 μm in the thickness
direction. The resultant cross-sectional images were processed
Fig. 3  a The developed hybrid extrusion additive manufacturing sys- into three-dimensional (3D) images using Volume Graphics
tem: components of FDM and syringe extrusion, and b fabrication
processes of a porous PDMS matrix: ①frame fabrication with layer Studio (VG Studio ver.2.0, Volume Graphics, Germany), a
thickness of 1 mm, ②deposition of sugar powder, ③PDMS patterning commercial software package, and the Pv of each specimen
and curing, ④the 2nd frame fabrication with the same layer thickness, was calculated using the assembled 3D image.
⑤secondary deposition of sugar powder, ⑥PDMS patterning, ⑦finish- Figure 4a shows the three porous PDMS specimens
ing built-up, ⑧dissolution of sugar powders using hot water of 50 °C,
⑨final porous PDMS structure. c Fabrication process of a porous fabricated using different sizes of sugar powder. Overall,
PDMS plate for measurement of fundamental characteristics the larger the sugar powder particles were, the higher the
porosity became. Despite some errors in the CT images
due to the polymeric material PDMS, it was possible to
analyze the overall tendency for porosity according to
sugar powder sizes. As shown in Fig. 4b, the CT results
Table 1  Specifications of the developed dual extrusion additive man- showed that when the sugar particle size used in the test
ufacturing system

Printing type FDM and syringe dispenser

Table 2  Size classification of sugar powder (unit: μm)
System size 580 × 450 × 430 mm (x, y, z-dimensions)
FDM nozzle Φ1.8 mm, heating up to 250 °C Case-① less than 200 (avg. 93.9)
Syringe Φ0.4 mm, air pressure of less than 7 bar Case-② 200–300 (avg. 252.9)
Making feature size 100 × 100 × 100 mm (x, y, z-dimensions) Case-③ more than 300 (avg. 634.3)

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International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology (2023) 10:97–107 101

(a)

(a)

(b)

Fig. 5  a Specifications and molding jig for fabrication of PDMS

(b) specimens with and without pores, and b tensile test results. The inset
image shows the flexible of the porous PDMS plate

Fig. 4  a Optical photographs of the fabricated porous PDMS plates

with three different sugar particle sizes (PS). Insets show three and
In order to apply the porous PDMS sponge as the basic
two times magnified each surface. b CT layer images of three cases
measured at a height of 38 μm from each bottom structure of the triboelectric sensor, it is necessary to
obtain basic data on material properties including stiff-
ness. For comparing the fundamental properties between
was around 200 μm, even the inside portion of the fabri- PDMS and porous PDMS, two types of tensile specimens
cated porous PDMS plate had a well-developed porous were prepared, as shown in Fig. 5a. The first type was
structure. The porosity measured by the CT showed that fabricated by pouring PDMS mixture into a plastic mold;
the average porosities of case-①, case-②, and case-③ were the second type was fabricated as a porous PDMS speci-
about 45.1, 35.2, and 29.8%, respectively. This means that men using the case-② sugar powder size. Then, the tensile
the porosity, Pv can be increased by using sugar powder tests were then performed and the results compared. Each
with smaller particle size. Among the three types of sugar tensile specimen was fabricated in the same shape with
powder sizes, case-① and case-② were found to be the most a size of 60% of the standard provided by ASTM 412-D
suitable for forming a porous structure in terms of uni- standard [30]. The tensile tests were conducted using a
formity and high value of porosity. As mentioned above, low-force tensile test equipment (JSV-H100, JISC Co.,
the Pv value was calculated using the assembled 3D CT Japan), as shown in Fig. 5b. The test results showed that
images. However, the assembled 3D CT image has local in the case of the original PDMS-based specimen, the
unscanned image errors in inter-layers due to the poly- tensile load reached about 14.21 N at breakage, which
meric material, so a relatively well-scanned control vol- was approximately 3.68 times higher than that of the
ume (local zone) is selected in the fully scanned volume porous PDMS-based specimen with a porosity of 35.2%
and utilized for Pv calculation (see Fig. 4b below). at 3.68 N. When the displacement was about 21.1 mm,

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102 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology (2023) 10:97–107

the applied tensile load was about 1.9 times higher in the
solid PDMS specimen than in the porous PDMS speci-
men. These results indicate that flexible sensors can be
implemented using porous PDMS structures because the
porous PDMS is much softer.

3.3 Impregnation of Carbon Black Particles

As mensioned above, in triboelectric sensors, electric cur-

rent is generated by the movement of electrons through con-
tact friction when a dielectric material comes into contact
with a conductor. In this work, CB particles as conductor
(a)
were impregnated to the porous PDMS matrix so that it
works as a triboelectric sensor. The CB particle impregna-
tion process is shown in Fig. 6a. First, the CB particles are
mixed to isopropyl alcohol (IPA) at a weight percentage of
8.2 wt%, and the solution was then subjected to stirring at
60 rpm for about 10 min using a stirrer (OS1-A, LABTron
Co., Korea). Then, the porous PDMS matrix fabricated by
the method shown in Fig. 3b above was immersed in the IPA
solution containing CB particles. It was further stirred at
40 rpm for 20 min, and sequentially performed by ultrasonic
stirring for more than 30 min using an ultrasonic vibrator
(TG-Plus1, CAS Co., Korea). This procedure allows for uni-
form adsorption of CB particles on the porous PDMS matrix
in a simple and fast way. (b)
The cross-sections of the porous PDMS matrix impreg-
nated with CB particles were observed using a scanning
electron microscope (SEM) to confirm that CB particles
had been properly coated on the PDMS surface. Energy-
dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was also performed
for elemental analysis. A JP/S-3500 N (Hitachi Co., Japan)
was used for SEM analysis, and a Supra 25 (Carl Zeiss AG,
Germany) was employed for EDS analysis. The SEM images
shown in Fig. 6b are the specimens using sugar powder
with particle sizes of 200 μm or less, and 200 to 300 μm,
respectively. It was found that the sugar particle size was
well represented in each porous PDMS surface. The lower
left and right images of Fig. 6b are enlarged SEM images
(c)
of the porous PDMS surface with sugar particles sized in a
range of 200 to 300 μm. As shown in the lower-left image
Fig. 6  a Schematic process of carbon black (CB) deposition on the
of Fig. 6b, the CB particles are densely adsorbed onto the
porous PDMS matrix: CB powder is poured into IPA liquid and
porous PDMS matrix. The results of EDS elemental analy- stirred to be mixed, and then fabricated porous PDMS cylinders are
sis are summarized in Fig. 6c. The amount of CB particles put in the mixture and mechanically stirred for 20 min and ultra-
adsorbed onto the porous PDMS surface can be determined sonically stirred for more than 30 min. b SEM images of the porous
PDMS impregnated with CB particles, and c comparison of composi-
by carbon content measurement. To this end, the porous
tions between PDMS and PDMS coated with CB
PDMS surface was subjected to platinum (Pt) sputtering,
and each specimen was mounted on a SEM stub using a
silver paste instead of carbon tape for reliable fixation. PDMS specimen with CB particles impregnated than in that
As depicted in its chemical for mula, i.e., without CB particles. This confirmed the successful coating
HO[–Si(CH3)2O–]nH + 2nHCl, the PDMS material is mainly of CB particles onto the pores of the PDMS matrix.
composed of oxygen, silicon, and carbon. So, it was found
that the carbon content was about 37.57 wt% higher in the

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International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology (2023) 10:97–107 103

4 Results and Discussion

4.1 Basic Characteristics of Sensor

A 0.1 mm-thickness conductive aluminum plate with

dimensions of 60 × 60 mm was attached using silver paste
on both sides of the fabricated porous PDMS plate impreg-
nated with CB particles, and Φ 1.0 mm copper wires were
then attached to both sides of the plate to investigate the
basic characteristics of the porous PDMS-based flexible
sensors with coating of CB particles. The tests were per-
formed as shown in Fig. 7a. The prepared triboelectric (a)
sensor was placed on a rubber pad on an electronic scale
as non-conductor. Loads of four different weights were
then free-fall dropped onto the triboelectric sensor from
a height of 50 mm, and after dropping, the weight was
removed rapidly by hands. In the process, the voltage gen-
erated in the sensor was measured. The applied impact
load was measured using an electronic scale (HS3002,
Hansung Co., Korea), on which the sensor was placed.
The voltage generated in the sensor was measured using an
oscilloscope (DSO-X 2012A, Aglient Technologies Co.,
USA).
It was expected that the developed triboelectric sensor (b)
had different characteristic and performance depending on
the porosity of the PDMS matrix and how CB particles
were impregnated to the porous PDMS matrix. Therefore,
two types of porous PDMS matrix fabricated by using
different powder sizes of sugar, case-①and case-② shown
in Fig. 4a were prepared and then impregnated with CB
particles via ultrasonic stirring for more than 30 min, as
described in Fig. 6a, to confirm the effect of porosity on
the characteristics of the sensors. The applied load was
controlled using four weights for free-drop (impact force)
of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 Kgf. The weight-drop test was
conducted at the same drop height (50 mm). The voltage
generated in the sensor was changed to increase almost (c)
linearly as the weight applied to the sensor increased, as
shown in Fig. 7b. All tests were repeated twice for each Fig. 7  a Schematic diagram of the experimental setup for a plate
free-drop of weight condition, and the results were aver- triboelectric sensor test, b the test results of voltage output varying
aged by converting the measured voltages into peak posi- depending on the impact force applied to the plate triboelectric sen-
sor, and c comparison of average voltage outputs between the two
tive voltages. As can be seen in the inset graph in Fig. 7b,
triboelectric sensors with different porosity, i.e., with sugar particle
the voltage change is shown with a small variation in each sizes (PS) of less than 200 μm and a range of 200 to 300 μm, respec-
case. The voltage changes over time under each loading tively
condition in Fig. 7b show that the porous PDMS repeat-
edly undergoes compression and recovery cycles, with
symmetrical alternating positive and negative peak volt- when the sugar powder size was less than 200 μm, the
ages. Through this, it was confirmed that the developed porosity, Pv reached about 45.1% (case-①). When the
triboelectric sensor works properly. powder size was in a range of 200 to 300 μm, the Pv was
Meanwhile, another set of tests was conducted to inves- about 35.2% (case-②). Two types of triboelectric sensor
tigate the effect of the porosity of the PDMS matrix on fabricated based on the different porosity of PDMS matrix
the sensor performance. As described above in Fig. 4a, (case-① and ②) was measured to determine the effect of
porosity on the performance of the sensor. In the sensor

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having the porous PDMS matrix fabricated by the case-①, 4.2 Application to Finger Motion Sensing
the voltages were measured to be 11.96 and 29.62 V when
the applied loads were 1.0 and 2.0 Kgf, respectively, as A finger wearable triboelectric sensor was fabricated by the
shown in Fig. 7c. These results were higher compared to proposed method, and its ability to detect finger joint move-
when the case-② was applied, and the difference between ments was evaluated experimentally. Once implemented
two cases was increased when the applied drop-weight this way, this type of sensor can be worn around the knees,
was more heavy. This is because the greater the deforma- wrists, or other joints to quantitatively analyze motion for
tion of the sensor by increasing the drop-weight, which health care. By using the proposed technology as a basis and
increases the contact friction between the CB particles on improving it can be diversely utilized in a variety of appli-
the porous surfaces of the PDMS matrix. This eventually cations including geriatric care and posture correction for
enhanced the dielectric polarization. Therefore, through athletes. The finger wearable triboelectric sensor was fabri-
these basic experimental results, it was confirmed that cated as the following steps. First, a cylinder porous PDMS
the output voltage generated by the triboelectric sensor shape designed with outer diameter of Φ21.0 mm, inner
increases linearly as the external force loaded to the sen- diameter of Φ15.0 mm, thickness of 3.0 mm, and height of
sor increases, and the sensitivity of the triboelectric sen- 28.0 mm was built using sugar powders with sizes of around
sor improves when the porosity increases due to enhance- 200 μm, and 28 layer-by-layer accumulation according to
ment of dielectric polarization phenomenon. the process described in Fig. 3b. However, as shown in the
inset of Fig. 8a, the fabricated porous PDMS cylinder had
slightly different dimensions compared to designed ones,
outer diameter of Φ23.5 mm, inner diameter of Φ14.8 mm,

(a)
(c)

(b) (d)

Fig. 8  a Fabrication process of a cylinder-shaped triboelectric sensor, and b–d variations in output voltage according to each finger motion

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International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology (2023) 10:97–107 105

and height of 29.0 mm. It can be caused by the infiltration contact area is enlarged to be 11 times compared to that of
of a liquid-state PDMS mixture into a cylinder built up of without-pore one. So, the sensitivity and performance of
sugar powders. Also, because the packing density of sugar the triboelectric sensor based on pore matrix can be much
power is different locally, the PDMS mixture infiltration improved. Furthermore, the tensile force of porous PDMS
amount is different, so that an accurate design shape cannot specimen with a porosity of 35.2% was reduced about 52.4%,
be obtained with a local distortion of about 3–6%. Further that means the flexibility of porous PDMS can be increased
study is needed to fabricate precise porous structures. Then, and controlled by the amounts of inner pores. Therefore, we
CB powder was then applied to the fabricated porous PDMS believe that the use of porous PDMS is a key technology for
structure following the procedures described in Fig. 6a. The developing higher performance triboelectric sensor. Conduc-
schematic procedures for fabricating the cylinder-shaped tive CB particles were uniformly impregnated to the porous
triboelectric sensor are depicted in Fig. 8a. Subsequently, a PDMS structure via ultrasonic stirring to finally obtain a
silver paste was applied to both the inner and outer surfaces novel sensitive triboelectric sensor.
of the cylinder-shaped triboelectric sensor for conductive. As a result of the experiment, the developed triboelectric
Finally, copper wires were attached to inner and outer sides sensor showed a linearity between the loading weight and
of the sensor in order to get electrical signals generated from the output voltage. In addition, a cylinder-shaped triboelec-
finger motions. tric sensor wearable on a finger was developed and evaluated
Four triboelectric sensors, from channel (CH) 1 to CH 4, experimentally its ability to detect finger joint movements.
were worn on the fingers, and it was found that no electrical The results showed that the sensor was able to help quanti-
signal, or voltage change, was detected while all the fingers tatively analyze finger movements. Through this work, we
were still, as shown in the experimental results in Fig. 8b. believe that the proposed flexible triboelectric sensor can
Black, red, blue, and green colored signals represent each apply to athletes or patients around their knees, wrists, or
voltage signal of CH 1 to CH 4, respectively. However, it has other joints to analyze their physical behavior. In addition,
been shown that the output voltage of that sensor changes it can be utilized to measure various physical signals such as
when one or two fingers are bent while the other keeps contact force, gripping force, and pressure, which are gen-
straight (see Fig. 8c, d). The maximal value of the voltage erally required in human–machine interface systems and
signal varies slightly from sensor to sensor due to the dif- robots, with small values.
ference of each finger bending motion. However, through
these results, it was confirmed that the triboelectric sensors Acknowledgements This work was supported by the National
Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) (no. NRF-2019R1A5A8083201),
developed in this work can recognize the movements and (no. 2020R1F1A106937412), and (no. 2021R1A6C101A449).
motional patterns of the finger joints. It was also found that
the amount of deformation of the triboelectric sensor was
changed and the output voltage was also changed accord-
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s12274-​016-​1242-3

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International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology (2023) 10:97–107 107

Seo‑Yeon So is a Researcher in Gi‑Myeong Gwak is a Master’s

Angel-Robotics Co., Korea. She graduate student in the Depart-
earned her M.S. degree in the ment of Mechanical and Aero-
school of mechanical engineer- space Engineering, Gyeongsang
ing at Pusan National University National University. His research
in 2019. Her research field is the interest is additive manufactur-
design and engineering of wear- ing including design, gear, gear-
able robotic systems. box, mechanical system design,
hydrogen refueling nozzle.

Suk‑Hee Park received his B.S. Sung‑Ki Lyu is a Professor in the

(2004) and Ph.D. (2011) degrees School of Mechanical & Aero-
at the Department of Mechanical space Engineering of Gyeong-
Engineering in Korea Advanced sang National University. He
Institute of Science and Technol- earned his M.S. in mechanical
ogy (KAIST). He joined as an engineering at Jeonbuk National
assistant professor at the School University in 1989 and his Ph.D.
of Mechanical Engineering in in precision engineering at
Pusan National University Tohoku University, Japan in
(2019~). His recent research 1994. His research fields are
interests include development of mechanical parts design, gear,
micro-/nano-fabricated func- gearbox, mechanical system
tional devices and their applica- design, power transmission sys-
tions to biomedical fields. tem, fatigue and strength evalua-
tion, and so on.

Sang‑Hu Park is a Professor in

the School of Mechanical Engi-
neering at Pusan National Uni-
versity. He earned his M.S. and
Ph.D. in mechanical engineering
at Korea Advanced Institute of
S c i e n c e a n d Te ch n o l o g y
(KAIST) in 1996 and 2006,
respectively. His research fields
are the engineering for additive
manufacturing including design,
processing, and post-processing
of mechanical parts.

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