Empa develops sensor ceramics

Researchers at the Advanced Ceramics Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology(Empa) in Dübendorf are currently working on the development of soft and sensitive sensor materials based on ceramic particles that can react to changes in pressure or temperature. According to a press release, Frank Clemens' team uses inorganic materials such as potassium sodium niobate, zinc oxide and carbon particles, which are produced using a sintering process to create so-called ceramics with piezoelectric properties. In order to use them as sensors, the ceramic particles are embedded in a thermoplastic matrix. Under the influence of pressure, stretching, temperature or moisture, the distance between the ceramic particles changes and with it the electrical conductivity of the material.

"If you want to use the ceramic sensors in practice, however, you should know what you are measuring," research manager Clemens is quoted as saying in the press release. The team has succeeded in developing sensors that react only to pressure or only to temperature. Such a pressure-responsive sensor could be used in robotic gripping tools and pull them back on contact with a person without injuring them.

In order to further increase the pressure and temperature sensitivity of the ceramic sensors, Empa researchers, together with the University of Cambridge, have developed a learning model supported by artificial intelligence that takes into account data from more than 4,500 measurements.

In addition to applications in technology, medical applications are also conceivable. For example, the team worked on an Innosuisse project with IDUN Technologies to develop flexible electrodes for brain wave measurements. ce/ww