Production of an artificial electronic skin (e-skin) that could mimic the human skin functions and “sense” the surrounding environments raises a need in large scale sensor arrays that could sense pressure, humidity and temperature with high resolution and low response times. The medical-prosthesis and future robot industries are potentially the first fields to benefit from the incorporate of the man-made e-skin into their products. Here, we present a monolayer-capped nanoparticle (MCNP) as potential inexpensive and low-power (<0.5V) operating platforms for multi-functional e-skin applications. The MCNP-based sensors, which could be applied on various substrates and be subjected to different forces, can possess repeatable measurements of the elastic deformation of the substrate, with load sensitivity as small as 0.24g. The ability of the MCNP sensors to detect the pressure signals were further demonstrated via encoding words using the Morse code. By pressing the finger on top of the sensor for short and long periods, we managed to produce two different signals in such a way that a short change in resistance is defined as a dot, and a long one as a line. In addition to their touch capabilities, the MCNP sensors provided excellent temperature sensitivity and humidity sensitivity. The ability to measure these three properties using practically the same sensor provides a great advantage in the production while integrating all components together. Another advantage is the ability to manufacture a large amount of micro-scale sensors, with high spatial resolution and a well-defined and controllable location on the e-skin.
