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Flexible capacitive pressure sensors have garnered significant attention in research areas such as electronic skin, wearable devices, medical diagnosis, physical health detection, and artificial intelligence due to their advantageous characteristics, including high sensitivity, flexibility, lightness, and easy integration. Over the past few years, the field of flexible capacitive pressure sensors has experienced notable advancements in materials, structural design, fabrication processes, and applications. This review aims to examine the different materials employed for sensor electrodes and dielectric layers, as well as the structural design of these sensors. Additionally, we delve into the diverse fabrication processes and techniques utilised, including electrode and dielectric layer fabrication, as well as weaving technology. Lastly, we explore the various applications of flexible capacitive pressure sensors, encompassing electronic skin, health monitoring device, electronic textiles, and structural health monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible, wearable pressure sensors offer numerous benefits, including superior sensing capabilities, a lightweight and compact design, and exceptional conformal properties, making them highly sought after in various applications including medical monitoring, human–computer interactions, and electronic skins. Because of their excellent characteristics, such as simple fabrication, low power consumption, and short response time, capacitive pressure sensors have received widespread attention. As a flexible polymer material, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is widely used in the preparation of dielectric layers for capacitive pressure sensors. The Young's modulus of the flexible polymer can be effectively decreased through the synergistic application of sacrificial template and laser ablation techniques, thereby improving the functionality of capacitive pressure sensors. In this study, a novel sensor was introduced. Its dielectric layer was developed through a series of processes, including the use of a sacrificial template method using NaCl microparticles and subsequent CO2 laser ablation. This porous PDMS dielectric layer, featuring an array of holes, was then sandwiched between two flexible electrodes to create a capacitive pressure sensor. The sensor demonstrates a sensitivity of 0.694 kPa−1 within the pressure range of 0–1 kPa and can effectively detect pressures ranging from 3 Pa to 200 kPa. The sensor demonstrates stability for up to 500 cycles, with a rapid response time of 96 ms and a recovery time of 118 ms, coupled with a low hysteresis of 6.8%. Furthermore, our testing indicates that the sensor possesses limitless potential for use in detecting human physiological activities and delivering signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practical application of flexible pressure sensors, including electronic skins, wearable devices, human–machine interaction, etc., has attracted widespread attention. However, the linear response range of pressure sensors remains an issue. Ecoflex, as a silicone rubber, is a common material for flexible pressure sensors. Herein, we have innovatively designed and fabricated a pressure sensor with a gradient micro-cone architecture generated by CO2 laser ablation of MWCNT/Ecoflex dielectric layer film. In cooperation with the gradient micro-cone architecture and a dielectric layer of MWCNT/Ecoflex with a variable high dielectric constant under pressure, the pressure sensor exhibits linearity (R2 = 0.990) within the pressure range of 0–60 kPa, boasting a sensitivity of 0.75 kPa−1. Secondly, the sensor exhibits a rapid response time of 95 ms, a recovery time of 129 ms, hysteresis of 6.6%, and stability over 500 cycles. Moreover, the sensor effectively exhibited comprehensive detection of physiological signals, airflow detection, and Morse code communication, thereby demonstrating the potential for various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In orthopedics, the evaluation of footbed pressure distribution maps is a valuable gait analysis technique that aids physicians in diagnosing musculoskeletal and gait disorders. Recently, the use of pressure-sensing insoles to collect pressure distributions has become more popular due to the passive collection of natural gait data during daily activities and the reduction in physical strain experienced by patients. However, current pressure-sensing insoles face the limitations of low customizability and high cost. Previous works have shown the ability to construct customizable pressure-sensing insoles with capacitive sensors using fused-deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing. This work explores the feasibility of low-cost fully and continuously 3D printed pressure sensors for pressure-sensing insoles using three sensor designs, which use flexible thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) as the dielectric layer and either conductive TPU or conductive polylactic acid (PLA) for the conductive plates. The sensors are paired with a commercial capacitance-to-voltage converter board to form the sensing system. Dynamic sensor performance is evaluated via sinusoidal compressive tests at frequencies of 1, 3, 5, and 7 Hz, with pressure levels varying from 14.33 to 23.88, 33.43, 52.54, and 71.65 N/cm2 at each frequency. Five sensors of each type are tested. Results show that all sensors display significant hysteresis and nonlinearity. The PLA-TPU sensor with 10% infill is the best-performing sensor with the highest average sensitivity and lowest average hysteresis and linearity errors. The range of average sensitivities, hysteresis, and linearity errors across the entire span of tested pressures and frequencies for the PLA-TPU sensor with 10% infill is 11.61–20.11·10−4 V/(N/cm2), 11.9–31.8%, and 9.0–22.3%, respectively. The significant hysteresis and linearity error are due to the viscoelastic properties of TPU, and some additional nonlinear effects may be due to buckling of the infill walls of the dielectric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Recently, flexible sensors with high sensitivity have been applied in wearable sports sensing field. Here, we reported a flexible and sensitive capacitive pressure sensor based on nylon textile and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) dielectric film. From the experimental results, the sensor has an extremely high sensitivity of 33.5 kPa−1, a low detection limit of 0.84 Pa, a quick response time of 27 ms. Moreover, the pressure sensor shows excellent reliability under over 100,000 working cycles. With their superior overall performance, capacitive sensors have effectively proved their enormous potential for basketball motion monitoring. This research will promote the development of wearable sports sensors.

Flexible capacitive pressure sensors have attracted extensive attention due to their dynamic response and good sensing capability for static and small pressures. Using microstructural dielectric layers is an effective method for improving performance. However, the current state of microstructure design is primarily focused on basic shapes and is largely limited by simulation results; there is still a great deal of potential for further innovation and improvement. This paper innovatively proposes to increase the ladder structure based on the basic microstructures, for example, the long micro-ridge ladder, the cuboid ladder, and cylindrical ladder microstructures. By comparing 9 kinds of microstructures including ladder structure through finite element simulation, it is found that the sensor with a cylindrical ladder microstructure dielectric layer has the highest sensitivity. The dielectric layers with various microstructures are obtained by 3D printed molds, and the sensor with cylindrical ladder microstructure dielectric layer has the sensitivity of 0.12 kPa−1, which is about 3.9 times higher than that without microstructure. The flexible pressure sensor developed by us boasts sensitivity-optimized and operational stability, making it an ideal solution for monitoring rainfall frequency in real time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible capacitive pressure sensors as one of the crucial sensing components have aroused widespread concern because of their vital role in development of wearable artificial devices, healthcare biomonitoring and human-machine interface. However, there has been a considerable challenge to successfully fabricate them with a tradeoff between high sensitivity and wide sensing range by low-cost and convenient manufacturing methods. Herein, the orientated thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer rubber nanofiber membranes (TPU-O NMs) were prepared via conjugated electrospinning to build a dielectric layer for the flexible capacitive wide-range pressure sensors with high sensitivity. In addition, polyaniline (PANI) was in situ polymerized on the TPU-O NMs as flexible electrodes to maintain the conductive pathway, flexibility, and breathability of the sensors. The TPU@PANI NMs form a bamboo-raft-like microstructure between the aligned fibers under pressure, resulting in a significant increase in sensitivity and working range. Furthermore, the conductive TPU@PANI NMs can be stretched to 1600% without fracture. The assembled sensor has a high sensitivity of 31.73 kPa−1 and a fast response/recovery time of 96 ms. Meantime, it also exhibits a minimum detection limit of 1 Pa, an excellent stability of 10,000 cycles, and a good linearity in a broad working age (1 Pa∼122.5 kPa). Finally, the capacitive pressure sensor was successfully applied for full-range detection of human motions, such as finger bending, joint bending, and even boxing movements. Hence this highly sensitive and wide-range pressure sensor can be a promising candidate for healthcare monitoring, motion recognition, and wearable circuitry in artificial intelligence.

Recently, flexible sensors with high sensitivity have been applied in wearable sports sensing field. Here, we reported a flexible and sensitive capacitive pressure sensor based on nylon textile and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) dielectric film. From the experimental results, the sensor has an extremely high sensitivity of 33.5 kPa−1, a low detection limit of 0.84 Pa, a quick response time of 27 ms. Moreover, the pressure sensor shows excellent reliability under over 100,000 working cycles. With their superior overall performance, capacitive sensors have effectively proved their enormous potential for basketball motion monitoring. This research will promote the development of wearable sports sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of intelligent sensing, there is a huge demand for flexible pressure sensors. High sensitivity is the primary requirement for flexible pressure sensors, whereas pressure response range and resolution, which are also key parameters of sensors, are often ignored, resulting in limited applications of flexible pressure sensors. This paper reports a flexible capacitive pressure sensor based on a double-sided microstructure porous dielectric layer. First, a porous structure was developed in the polymer dielectric layer consisting of silicon rubber (SR)/NaCl/carbon black (CB) using the dissolution method, and then hemisphere microstructures were developed on both sides of the layer by adopting the template method. The synergistic effect of the hemispheric surface microstructure and porous internal structure improves the deformability of the dielectric layer, thus achieving high sensitivity (3.15 kPa−1), wide response range (0–200 kPa), and high resolution (i.e., the minimum pressure detected was 27 Pa). The proposed sensing unit and its array have been demonstrated to be effective in large-area pressure sensing and object recognition. The flexible capacitive pressure sensor developed in this paper is highly promising in applications of robot skin and intelligent prosthetic hands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible and wearable devices have been gaining attention in recent years. Compared with other types of pressure sensors, capacitive pressure sensors provide more advantages including simple structure, high stability and reliability, and lower power consumption. This study proposed the flexible capacitive pressure sensors with a double dielectric layer of a porous micro-pillar composite structure of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as the dielectric layer. To further enhance the sensitivity, barium titanate (BT) particles were mixed in the PDMS due to their high relative permittivity. Moreover, finite element analysis (FEA) was utilized to simulate the displacement of the dielectric layer under applying external pressure. The FEA simulation results showed that the proposed structure of the dielectric layer could effectively enhance the sensitivity of the flexible capacitive pressure sensor. Furthermore, the flexible capacitive pressure sensor demonstrates a superb performance with a high sensitivity of 7.847 kPa−1, a low detection limit of 0.21 Pa, and a fast response and release time of 20 ms and 25 ms. The developed sensors have an excellent sensing capability and can be applied widely for monitoring of heartbeat, sensing of the robot arm, measuring of floor height, detecting of weights of objects, and real-time monitoring of healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible micro‐pyramidal capacitive pressure sensors provide a high‐level tunability, showing fascinating implications in various applications, such as advanced healthcare, protheses, and smart robots. In this work, analytical models for capacitive pressure sensors are reported based on micro‐pyramidal electrodes and dielectrics, which are confirmed by both finite element simulations and existing experimental results. The proposed models can be used to predict the pressure response in a wide dynamic range, which enables to efficiently analyze the pressure range, linearity, and multiple regimes of sensitivity for designing devices. Moreover, neural networks are introduced to approximate the pressure responses, and, in turn, to inversely design the parameters of the pressure sensors with a desired pressure response. The machine‐learning‐assisted design is able to find multiple designed parameters for the customization purpose, manifesting itself a powerful approach to customize the sensor performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of intelligent sensing, there is a huge demand for flexible pressure sensors. High sensitivity is the primary requirement for flexible pressure sensors, whereas pressure response range and resolution, which are also key parameters of sensors, are often ignored, resulting in limited applications of flexible pressure sensors. This paper reports a flexible capacitive pressure sensor based on a double-sided microstructure porous dielectric layer. First, a porous structure was developed in the polymer dielectric layer consisting of silicon rubber (SR)/NaCl/carbon black (CB) using the dissolution method, and then hemisphere microstructures were developed on both sides of the layer by adopting the template method. The synergistic effect of the hemispheric surface microstructure and porous internal structure improves the deformability of the dielectric layer, thus achieving high sensitivity (3.15 kPa−1), wide response range (0–200 kPa), and high resolution (i.e., the minimum pressure detected was 27 Pa). The proposed sensing unit and its array have been demonstrated to be effective in large-area pressure sensing and object recognition. The flexible capacitive pressure sensor developed in this paper is highly promising in applications of robot skin and intelligent prosthetic hands.

Flexible pressure sensors have been extensively employed in a range of fields, such as electronic skin (E–skin), humanoid robots, and personal health care. Laser–induced graphene (LIG) is an ideal active material to produce flexible sensors due to its advantages of one–step fabrication, excellent mechanical performance, and high conductivity. This paper presents a flexible capacitive pressure sensor (FCPS) consisting of LIG and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) foam. LIG can be fabricated by using a laser to directly write on polyimide (PI) film. By transferring the LIG to a porous PDMS foam, the FCPS acquired a plate–foam–plate integrated structure and it had high sensitivity (~ 0.026 kPa−1 in 15 40 kPa) and a fast response time (~ 120 ms). In dynamic testing, the FCPS exhibited a stable (δr = ~ 1.785%) and low–hysteresis (h = ~ 9.762%) response to pressure. Furthermore, no significant signal distortions were identified in 5000–cycle press/release testing, which demonstrated the long–term durability of the FCPS. The FCPS was capable of distinguishing between different external mechanical stimuli, including stretching, pressing, bending, and twisting by multiple responses (i.e., two electrode resistances and the capacitance between the electrodes). The FCPS was also employed to detect joint movements, body pressure, and arterial pulse. To study the spatial pressure distribution in depth, an FCPS array was developed by designing a LIG pattern into an electrode array. As a result, there was a mapping between the measurements and the spatial pressure. In our study, FCPS and its array were prepared for multiple stimuli identification and tactile sensing using a simple, efficient, and low–cost technique. The results from this study demonstrated that the FCPS and its array demonstrated potential for being fabricated into wearable medical devices, virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) devices, or E–skin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of high sensitivity, mechanical robustness, lightweight and wearability, flexible capacitive pressure transducer has been widely considered one of the most critical soft electronics in wearable consumables and e-skins. The enhancement of the pressure sensitivity of a flexible capacitive sensor relies on the introduction of interfacial microstructure to the dielectric layer. We demonstrate a new methodology to fabricate flexible capacitive sensors with copper-plated polyimide (PI) films as the electrodes and a porous polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layer 3D printed via the direct-ink-writing approach. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry is developed to optimize the electroless copper plated PI films. What is further examined is the impact of the geometric complexity of the cellular PDMS structure, including filament width, spacing and alignment, on sensitivity, repeatability and reliability of the developed capacitive sensor. A robotic gripper equipped with our flexible pressure sensor showcases its competence to grip a soft target with well-posed force control. It is expected that our proposed sensor design and manufacturing methodology will advance the development of soft electronics and wearable sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible capacitive pressure sensors based on ionic hydrogels (IHs) have garnered significant attention in the field of wearable technology. However, the vulnerability of traditional single-network hydrogels to mechanical damage and the complexity associated with preparing double-network hydrogels present challenges in developing a highly sensitive, easily prepared, and durable IH-based flexible capacitive pressure sensor. This study introduces a novel multicross-linked dual-network IH achieved through the physical and chemical cross-linking of polymers polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and chitosan (CS), ionic solution H 3 PO 4 , and cross-linking agent gum arabic. Flexible capacitive pressure sensors, characterized by high sensitivity and a broad pressure range, are fabricated by employing mesh as templates to design cut-corner cube microstructures with high uniformity and controllability on the IHs. The sensor exhibits high sensitivity across a wide pressure range (0-290 kPa) and with excellent features such as high resolution (∼1.3 Pa), fast response-recovery time (∼11 ms), and repeatable compression stability at 25 kPa (>2000 cycles). The IHs as a dielectric layer demonstrate long-term water retention properties, enabling exposure to air for up to 100 days. Additionally, the developed sensor shows the ability to accurately measure the pulse wave within the small pressure range. By combining the pulse wave acquired by the sensor with a trained neural network model, we achieve successful blood pressure (BP) prediction, meeting the standards set by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation and the British Hypertension Society. Ultimately, the sensor proposed in this study holds promising prospects for broad applications in high-precision wearable medical electronic devices.

Human motion state recognition technology based on flexible, wearable sensor devices has been widely applied in the fields of human–computer interaction and health monitoring. In this study, a new type of flexible capacitive pressure sensor is designed and applied to the recognition of human motion state. The electrode layers use multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as conductive materials, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with microstructures is embedded in the surface as a flexible substrate. A composite film of barium titanate (BaTiO3) with a high dielectric constant and low dielectric loss and PDMS is used as the intermediate dielectric layer. The sensor has the advantages of high sensitivity (2.39 kPa−1), wide pressure range (0–120 kPa), low pressure resolution (6.8 Pa), fast response time (16 ms), fast recovery time (8 ms), lower hysteresis, and stability. The human body motion state recognition system is designed based on a multi-layer back propagation neural network, which can collect, process, and recognize the sensor signals of different motion states (sitting, standing, walking, and running). The results indicate that the overall recognition rate of the system for the human motion state reaches 94%. This proves the feasibility of the human motion state recognition system based on the flexible wearable sensor. Furthermore, the system has high application potential in the field of wearable motion detection.

Flexible capacitive pressure sensor has attracted intensive attention as electronic skin, where sensitivity and sensing range are the crucial characteristic parameters. Although the design of electron double layer and surface microstructure can effectively enhance the mechanical-to-capacitance response, the saturated pressure and limited compressibility impede the elaboration of pressure sensors with high sensing range and super-high sensitivity simultaneously. Herein, we develop the multilayer self-filled microstructure that not only greatly improves sensitivity but also broadens the sensing range. Specifically, the self-filled microstructure composed of the protrusions and grooves boosts the contact between electrode and ionic conductor, and the multilayer architecture enhances the structural compressibility. As a result, the multilayer self-filled iontronic pressure sensor (MSIPS) achieves ultrahigh sensitivity (249.7–5182.8 kPa−1), unprecedented pressure sensing range (0.05 Pa-750 kPa), a high pressure resolution (26 Pa or 0.0064%), an extreme response rate (7 ms), together with a great durability (2000 cycles at 200 kPa) even under harsh conditions (−30°C, 100 °C, and humidity 60%). Owing to the aforementioned merits, the MSIPS is capable of recognizing various human movement and biosignals, and most importantly distinguishing tiny pressures under large loads. These results indicate that the MSIPS possesses great potential in advanced biological monitoring and industrial robots. [Display omitted] • A multilayer self-filled iontronic pressure sensor (MSIPS) has been designed and fabricated. • The microstructured design enhances the pressure sensing range and preserves an ultra-high sensitivity at the same time. • The MSIPS achieves a super-high sensitivity of 5182.8 kPa−1 and a wide pressure sensing range of 0.05–750 kPa. • The MSIPS demonstrated a great potential to sense and distinguish tiny mechanical stimuli even under large pressure values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Highly sensitive and wearable capacitive pressure sensors were developed. • Microcylinder array and composite fibers were integrated as a dielectric layer. • The sensor had a high sensitivity of 5 kPa−1 and fast response time of 25 ms. • The proposed sensor with an extremely low detection limit of 0.11 Pa was verified. • The sensor was applied as the E-skin for the touch switch of robotic arms. This study developed a novel high-sensitivity flexible capacitive pressure sensor by combining BaTiO 3 -doped polyvinylidene fluoride electrospinning fibers and polydimethylsiloxane microcylindrical structures as the dielectric layer. The flexible electrode formed by the graphene/PI film was assembled into a flexible capacitive pressure sensor, and formed a sandwich-like structure. The proposed sensor could obtain more capacitance variations and improve its sensitivity through composite deformation of electrospinning fiber and microcylindrical structure under pressure. The developed flexible capacitive pressure sensor has a high sensitivity of 5 kPa−1, fast response and release time of 25 and 50 ms, ultralow detection limit of 0.11 Pa, and more than 10000- and 5000-times compressions/bending cycling test without any signal attenuation for the high durability and high reliability. The results of this study proved that the sensors have excellent performance, and can be applied on wearable devices for human pulse monitoring and acoustic detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, high-performance flexible pressure sensors have received considerable attention because of their potential application in fitness tracking, human–machine interfaces, and artificial intelligence. Sensitivity is a key parameter that directly affects a sensor's performance; therefore, improving the sensitivity of sensors is a vital research topic. This study developed a dual-layer dielectric structure comprising a layer of electrospun fiber and an array of microcylinders and used it to fabricate a novel high-sensitivity capacitive pressure sensor. A simple, rapid, low-cost, and controllable microstructured method that did not require complex and expensive equipment was adopted. The proposed sensor can efficiently detect capacitance changes by analyzing changes in the fiber and microcylinder structure when compressed. It has high sensitivity of 0.6 kPa−1, rapid response time of 25 ms, ultralow limit of detection of 0.065 Pa, and high durability and high reliability without any signal attenuation up to 10,000 load/unload cycles and up to 5000 bending/unbending cycles. Moreover, it yielded favorable results in real-time tests, such as pulse monitoring, acoustic tests, breathe monitoring, and body motion monitoring. Furthermore, experiments were conducted using a robotic arm, and the obtained results verify that the sensor has different capacitance responses to objects with different shapes, which is crucial for its future applications in smart machinery. Finally, the sensors were arranged as a 6 × 6 matrix, and they successfully displayed the pressure distribution in a plane. Thus, the contributions of the capacitance pressure sensor with a dual-layer dielectric structure in the field of high-performance pressure sensors were verified. [Display omitted] • A wearable pressure sensor developed for mechanical tactile. • Microcylinder array/electrospun fiber integrated as a dual-layer dielectric structure. • A novel sensor with sensitivity of 0.6 kPa−1 and response time of 25 ms is realized. • A 6 × 6 arrayed sensor successfully displays the pressure distribution in a plane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human motion state recognition technology based on flexible, wearable sensor devices has been widely applied in the fields of human–computer interaction and health monitoring. In this study, a new type of flexible capacitive pressure sensor is designed and applied to the recognition of human motion state. The electrode layers use multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as conductive materials, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) with microstructures is embedded in the surface as a flexible substrate. A composite film of barium titanate (BaTiO3) with a high dielectric constant and low dielectric loss and PDMS is used as the intermediate dielectric layer. The sensor has the advantages of high sensitivity (2.39 kPa−1), wide pressure range (0–120 kPa), low pressure resolution (6.8 Pa), fast response time (16 ms), fast recovery time (8 ms), lower hysteresis, and stability. The human body motion state recognition system is designed based on a multi-layer back propagation neural network, which can collect, process, and recognize the sensor signals of different motion states (sitting, standing, walking, and running). The results indicate that the overall recognition rate of the system for the human motion state reaches 94%. This proves the feasibility of the human motion state recognition system based on the flexible wearable sensor. Furthermore, the system has high application potential in the field of wearable motion detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, flexible sensors endowed with high sensitivity, low detection limit, broad working pressure range and fast response have aroused widespread concern owing to their vital role in the development of wearable artificial devices, human-machine interaction and healthcare systems. Herein, flexible and highly sensitive capacitive pressure sensors were fabricated based on flexible electrodes with convex microarrays and ultrathin dielectric layer. The proposed sensor is constructed by sandwiching a top micro-arrayed electrode, a middle ultrathin dielectric layer and a bottom micro-arrayed electrode, and it demonstrates an ultra-high sensitivity of 30.2 kPa−1 (0–130 Pa), fast response time of 25 ms, low detection limit of 0.7 Pa and extreme stability of 100 000 cycles without fatigue. The finite-element analysis indicates that the changes of contact area and distance between two electrodes under external stimulus are critical to achieve superior properties of the sensor. Benefitting from the outstanding comprehensive performance, the enormous potential ability of the capacitive sensor in monitoring physiological signals and robot hand grabbing motions have been successfully demonstrated, which indicates promising applications in wearable intelligent electronic devices. Ultra-high sensitivity capacitive sensors are fabricated by a simple, low-cost method and the application of flexible sensors in monitoring human biological signals and robot hand's motion are demonstrating successfully. Also, the results of the finite element analysis reveal the relationship between sensitivity and structural design of the capacitive sensor from the mechanical mechanism. Image 1 • Flexible capacitive pressure sensors with ultrahigh sensitivity of 30.2 kPa-1 were successfully fabricated • FEA analysis reveals the relationship between contact area, dielectric layer thickness and external pressure. • Ultrahigh stability up to 100,000 cycles for the flexible capacitive pressure sensors. • Flexible capacitive pressure sensors enable real-time human physiological signals and robotic hand movements monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]