Strong and Robust Core–Shell Ceramic Fibers Composed of Highly Compacted Nanoparticles for Multifunctional Electronic Skin

Abstract

AbstractFunctional fibers composed of textiles are considered a promising platform for constructing electronic skin (e‐skin). However, developing robust electronic fibers with integrated multiple functions remains a formidable task especially when a complex service environment is concerned. In this work, a continuous and controllable strategy is demonstrated to prepare e‐skin‐oriented ceramic fibers via coaxial wet spinning followed by cold isostatic pressing. The resulting core–shell structured fiber with tightly compacted Al‐doped ZnO nanoparticles in the core and highly ordered aramid nanofibers in the shell exhibit excellent tensile strength (316 MPa) with ultra‐high elongation (33%). Benefiting from the susceptible contacts between conducting ceramic nanoparticles, the ceramic fiber shows both ultrahigh sensitivity (gauge factor = 2141) as a strain sensor and a broad working range up to 70 °C as a temperature sensor. Furthermore, the tunable core–shell structure of the fiber enables the optimization of impedance matching and attenuation of electromagnetic waves for the corresponding textile, resulting in a minimum reflection loss of −39.1 dB and an effective absorption bandwidth covering the whole X‐band. Therefore, the versatile core–shell ceramic fiber‐derived textile can serve as a stealth e‐skin for monitoring the motion and temperature of robots under harsh conditions.