A solution to reduce the time dependence of the output resistance of a viscoelastic and piezoresistive element

Conductive polymer composite, which can be used as the piezoresistive material of a flexible pressure sensor, has viscoelasticity. Therefore, the piezoresistivity is time dependent, introducing detrimental effects for sensor development. To reduce the time dependence, we designed a piezoresistive element with a novel structure called a ?nonalignment electrodes element (NAEE)?, which is different from a traditional sandwich element (TSE). The experimental data under constant pressure show that the attenuation of the output resistance of a NAEE is much lower than that of a TSE, and the tend-to-stable-time (i.e. the shortest time needed to ensure that the output resistance of the element goes to a stable level) of a NAEE is far less than that of a TSE. The results verify the feasibility to reduce the time dependence substantially by using a NAEE.