{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T15:08:19Z","timestamp":1785424099565,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,27]],"date-time":"2026-07-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785110400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100021171","name":"Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2614050001828"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2614050001828"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100021171","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100014881","name":"Guangzhou University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2024312446"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024312446"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100014881","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["2024312446"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024312446"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05ar8rn06","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001839","name":"Hong Kong Research Grant Council\/University Grants Committee","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["11200325"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["11200325"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001839","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["11200325"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["11200325"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00djwmt25","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004377","name":"Hong Kong Polytechnic University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["BEDH"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BEDH"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004377","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["BEDH"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BEDH"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0030zas98","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Micromachines"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Flexible capacitive sensors for electronic skins and soft robotic systems are expected to provide not only high-pressure sensitivity but also multifunctional sensing capabilities. However, conventional dielectric layer designs often suffer from a trade-off among multiple functionalities. To address this challenge, we developed a flexible sensor featuring a hybrid microstructured functional layer for pressure sensing, distance monitoring, and material identification. The functional layer was a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film embedded with micro-sized sugar particles and patterned with microstructures on its surface. The pressure-sensing performance, such as pressing sensitivity, response time, and hysteresis, was first evaluated. The pressure sensitivity reached 3.55 \u00d7 10\u22122 kPa\u22121 at an applied force of 1 N, which is significantly greater than that of the sensor using either a flat PDMS layer or a PDMS film embedded solely with sugar particles. The hybrid microstructured sensor also exhibited superior performance in terms of hysteresis and repeatability. Moreover, the sensor was shown to measure the distance to an object with a sensitivity of 0.023 mm\u22121. Furthermore, the robust identification of materials with different permittivities was demonstrated using the flexible sensor. Given its multifunctional, non-contact, and high-sensitivity capabilities, this flexible sensor holds significant potential for integration into advanced electronic skins, intelligent soft robotics for tactile object sorting, and human\u2013-machine interfaces.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/mi17080898","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,27]],"date-time":"2026-07-27T16:11:56Z","timestamp":1785168716000},"page":"898","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Multifunctional Flexible Sensor Based on a Hybrid Microstructured Functional Layer"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Jianxiang","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physics and Material Science, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hongbin","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physics and Material Science, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yu","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physics and Material Science, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jingmei","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhengyun","family":"Zhong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yue","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yanzhang","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Guanghua Institute of Sci-Tech (Guangdong) Co., Ltd., Guangzhou 510006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Man","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Meng","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wu","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physics and Material Science, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9020-7782","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lip Ket","family":"Chin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2001023","DOI":"10.1002\/admt.202001023","article-title":"Recent Progress on Flexible Capacitive Pressure Sensors: From Design and Materials to Applications","volume":"6","author":"Mishra","year":"2021","journal-title":"Adv. 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