Kiri-Origami Fabricated Pillar-Type Airflow Sensor Employing Laser-Induced Graphene

Many insects feature highly sensitive airflow detecting hairs. Inspired by these biological systems, artificial hair-like sensors have been developed; however, conventional silicon-based devices are fragile. On the other hand, laser-induced graphene (LIG) has recently attracted attention as a flexible and highly sensitive piezoresistive material. Polyimide substrates offer mechanical robustness and enable the simple fabrication of three-dimensional structures through folding. Here, we propose a fabrication process for a three-dimensional hair-like airflow sensor by bending planar LIG sensor elements using a kiri-origami-based assembly method. This approach enables a biaxial airflow sensor with a vertically standing pillar, without requiring any heating processes. The fabricated sensor exhibited responses to airflow, demonstrating the feasibility of kiri-origami-assembled LIG sensor devices.