Self-Powered Temperature Electronic Skin Based on Island-Bridge Structure And Bi-Te Micro Thermoelectric Generator for Distributed Mini-Region Sensing.

Thermoelectric (TE) effect based temperature sensor can accurately convert temperature signal into voltage without external power supply, which have great application prospects in self-powered temperature electronic skin (STES). But the fabrication of stretchable and distributed STES still remains a challenge. Here, a novel STES design strategy is proposed by combining flexible island-bridge structure with BiTe-based micro thermoelectric generator (μ-TEG). Furthermore, a 4×4 vertical temperature sensor array with good stretchability and distributed sensing property has been fabricated for the first time. The interfacial chemical bonds located between the rigid islands (μ-TEG) and the flexible substrate (PDMS) endow the STES with excellent stretchability, and its sensing performance remains unchanged under 30% strain (the maximum strain of human skin). Moreover, the STES sensing unit possesses high sensitivity (729 μV/K), rapid response time (0.157 s) and high spatial resolution (2.75×2.75 mm 2 ). As a proof of concept, we demonstrate the application of the STES in the detection of mini-region heat sources in various scenarios including non-contact spatial temperature responsing, intelligent robotic thermosensing and wearable temperature sensing. Such an inspiring design strategy is expected to provide guidance for the design and fabrication of wearable self-powered temperature sensors. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.