Polymer Micro-and Nano-scale Fabrication Technology Development for Bioinspired Sensing

We report on the development of new elastomers and processes that utilize polymers such as PDMS, FSR (force sensitive resistor) polymer, MWCNT, and polyurethane to realize bioinspired sensors such as artificial haircells. In nature, haircell sensors are used by fish to sense flow, by spiders to sense vibration, and by some vertebrates for hearing and acoustics. An artificial haircell sensor is designed to mimic the ability of natural haircells to sense flow, vibration, and touch. However, in order to improve the sensitivity and robustness, the use of polymers is necessary. In this paper, we present the different generations of bioinspired artificial haircell sensors, along with the polymers and processes needed for their construction