RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Biomimetic temperature-sensing layer for artificial skins
JF Science Robotics
JO Sci. Robotics
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP eaai9251
DO 10.1126/scirobotics.aai9251
VO 2
IS 3
A1 Di Giacomo, Raffaele
A1 Bonanomi, Luca
A1 Costanza, Vincenzo
A1 Maresca, Bruno
A1 Daraio, Chiara
YR 2017
UL http://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/2/3/eaai9251.abstract
AB Artificial membranes that are sensitive to temperature are needed in robotics to augment interactions with humans and the environment and in bioengineering to improve prosthetic limbs. Existing flexible sensors achieved sensitivities of <100 millikelvin and large responsivity, albeit within narrow (<5 kelvin) temperature ranges. Other flexible devices, working in wider temperature ranges, exhibit orders of magnitude poorer responses. However, much more versatile and temperature-sensitive membranes are present in animals such as pit vipers, whose pit membranes have the highest sensitivity and responsivity in nature and are used to locate warm-blooded prey at distance. We show that pectin films mimic the sensing mechanism of pit membranes and parallel their record performances. These films map temperature on surfaces with a sensitivity of at least 10 millikelvin in a wide temperature range (45 kelvin), have very high responsivity, and detect warm bodies at distance. The produced material can be integrated as a layer in artificial skin platforms and boost their temperature sensitivity to reach the best biological performance.