Flexible pressure sensors, which are employed in robotic arms and electronic skin, are conventionally prepared using methods such three-dimensional printing, laser scribing, and spray coating. However, they are time-consuming and unsuitable for large-scale production. Thus, to overcome these limitations, roll-to-roll (R2R)-based fabrication techniques have been employed for low-cost mass production of flexible pressure sensors. Gravure printing is a promising R2R based technique, but it faces limitations in terms of ink-flow and printing defects causing short circuit, which may affect the performance of printed electronic devices. In this study, we analyzed the effects of printing conditions, web speed, tension, and nip pressure on the drag-out tail defects and conductance in the gravel printing process. We statistically optimized the optimal conditions to obtain minimum drag-out tail defects and conductance using a Box–Behnken design. We also fabricated two flexible pressure capacitive sensors using the conductive patterns to verify optimal conditions. Our results showed that the resistance decreased with increasing web speed, tension, and nip pressure, whereas the drag-out tail increased with increasing tension and nip pressure and decreasing web speed. Additionally, under the optimal conditions, the resistance and drag-out tail severity were improved by 74% and 53%, respectively, over those of the conventionally printed pattern. Finally, using the two flexible pressure capacitive sensors, we showed that the sensor using the conductive pattern had a higher sensitivity after optimization.

通常使用诸如三维打印，激光划刻和喷涂的方法来制备用于机械臂和电子皮肤的柔性压力传感器。但是，它们很耗时，不适合大规模生产。因此，为了克服这些限制，已采用基于卷对卷（R2R）的制造技术来低成本批量生产柔性压力传感器。凹版印刷是一种有前途的基于R2R的技术，但它在墨水流动和导致短路的印刷缺陷方面面临局限，短路可能会影响印刷电子设备的性能。在这项研究中，我们分析了印刷条件，卷筒纸速度，张力和压区压力对砾石印刷过程中拖尾缺陷和电导率的影响。我们使用Box–Behnken设计在统计学上优化了最佳条件，以获得最小的拖尾缺陷和电导。我们还使用导电图案制造了两个柔性压力电容传感器，以验证最佳条件。我们的结果表明，阻力随着卷筒纸速度，张力和压区压力的增加而减小，而拖尾随着张力和辊隙压力的增加以及卷筒纸速度的减小而增加。另外，在最佳条件下，与传统印刷图案相比，抗性和拖尾性严重程度分别提高了74％和53％。最后，通过使用两个柔性压力电容传感器，我们证明了使用导电图案的传感器经过优化后具有更高的灵敏度。