Human skin can sense an external object in a location-specific manner, simultaneously recognizing whether it is sharp or blunt. Such tactile capability can be achieved in both natural and stretched states. It is impractical to mimic this tactile function of human skin by designing pixelated sensor arrays across our whole curvilinear human body. Here, we report a new tactile electronic skin sensor based on staircase-like vertically aligned gold nanowires (V-AuNWs). With a back-to-back linear or spiral assembly of two staircase structures into a single sensor, we are able to recognize pressure in a highly location-specific manner for both non-stretched and stretched states (up to 50% strain); with a concentric design on the fingertip, we can identify the sharpness of an external object. We believe that our strategy opens up a new route to highly specific second-skin-like tactile sensors for electronic skin (E-skin) applications.

中文翻译：

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基于阶梯状纳米线贴片的位置和清晰度特定的触觉电子皮肤†

人体皮肤可以以特定位置的方式感知外部物体，同时识别其是尖锐的还是钝的。这样的触觉能力可以在自然状态和伸展状态下都实现。通过在整个曲线人体上设计像素化传感器阵列来模仿人类皮肤的这种触觉功能是不切实际的。在这里，我们报告一种基于阶梯状垂直排列的金纳米线（V-AuNWs）的新型触觉电子皮肤传感器。通过将两个阶梯结构的背对背线性或螺旋装配到单个传感器中，我们能够以高度特定于位置的方式识别非拉伸状态和拉伸状态（高达50％应变）的压力；通过指尖上的同心设计，我们可以识别外部物体的清晰度。