Authors
Junjie Weng, Xinhao Shu, Renfeng Gong, Yicheng Wang, Danping Zhang, Yuhao Zhu, Ziqiang Xiang, Peng Yang, Yong Zhang, Kehong Lv, Ying Liu, Guanjun Liu, Qingshan Wu
Published in
Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany). Pages e76096. Oct 04, 2026. Epub Oct 04, 2026.
Abstract
Hydrostatic preload increases response nonlinearity and limits weak-force detection in underwater tactile sensing. Here, we present a nanocomposite-enhanced iontronic tactile sensor (NeITS) that combines high sensitivity with wide-range linearity through a coupled mechano-ionic mechanism. Hydrophobic SiO2 nanoparticles reinforce the ionogel, suppress premature geometric saturation, and sustain contact-area evolution, while pressure-driven interfacial ion enrichment enhances electric double-layer capacitance. The optimized sensor achieves a sensitivity of 55.36 kPa─ 1 over a 500 kPa linear range, with response and recovery times of 50 ms. It resolves an additional contact pressure of approximately 2 kPa at hydrostatic preloads of 0, 93, and 116 kPa with closely comparable response amplitudes. A 4 × 4 NeITS array enables real-time pressure mapping and shape imaging. Integrated into an underwater robotic gripper, the array supports neural-network-assisted recognition of nine representative benthic biological targets, achieving a mean classification accuracy of 97.8% under temporally separated window-level evaluation. This work establishes a materials-level strategy for hydrostatic-pressure-tolerant iontronic sensing and advances tactile perception for underwater robotic manipulation.
PMID:
42829870
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 04 Oct 2026.
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