Transparent and stretchable capacitive pressure sensor using selective plasmonic heating-based patterning of silver nanowires

[Display omitted] •A highly sensitive, stretchable and transparent pressure sensor was developed.•Selective photo-induced heating was used to make a pattern of Ag nanowires on a polymer.•Capacitance formed in the patterned electrode sensitively varied with the applied pressure. This study utilizes the characteristics of an Ag nanowire (AgNW) that can rapidly generate heat under high energy pulsed light (HEPL) incidence. Upon HEPL irradiation, the AgNWs melted the polymer in contact with them owing to the instantaneous heat generation, thereby inducing wetting and adhesion properties; the areas unaffected by the HEPL irradiation could be easily peeled, as they were directly placed on the surface of the film without any physicochemical reactions. Thus, we easily fabricated a sensor comprising of tandem compound patterns of AgNWs on the polyurethane film surface, without employing photolithography, etching, lamination, or any additional materials. The capacitance formed in the electrode sensitively varied with the applied pressure, implying that it could be used as a stretchable and transparent pressure sensor.