Giant gauge factors in an anchored sandwich structure with a soft break mechanism

Summary Recent advancements in flexible strain sensors utilizing nanomaterials and advanced carbon materials have showcased remarkable sensitivity, promising vast application potential. However, achieving a superior gauge factor (GF) with exceptional outstanding stability at a controllable strain range is still a critical challenge. We introduce the "soft break mechanism," which enables reversible resistance switching through graphene interlayer displacement and rGO laminate (CPLs) distance variation. Utilizing polyurethane films as anchors, sandwiched with graphene layers, protects the graphene within the soft break range. The GFs can reach the 10⁶–10⁷ level and maintain stability in 10,000 tensile cycles. Adjusting pre-set artificial cracks modifies the abrupt variation point, achieving controllable strain range. Especially, gravitational wave detection can be enabled by our sensors with a strain of 10⁻²¹ leading to a resistance change of 1.03×10−7Ω. Our work can enable super sensitivity sensors for potential future subtle signal detection and scientific systems.