Ultra-stretchable, sensitive and durable strain sensors based on polydopamine encapsulated carbon nanotubes/elastic bands

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (30) ◽  
pp. 8160-8170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yalong Wang ◽  
Yanyan Jia ◽  
Yujie Zhou ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
Guoqiang Zheng ◽  
...  

A polydopamine (PDA)/carbon nanotube (CNT)/elastic band (EB) flexible strain sensor has desirable integration of an ultra-high strain range (920% strain), large sensitivity and superior durability (10 000 cycles).

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Wei Qiu ◽  
Shi-Lei Li ◽  
Wei-lin Deng ◽  
Di Gao ◽  
Yi-Lan Kang

A strain sensor composed of carbon nanotubes with Raman spectroscopy can achieve measurement of the three in-plane strain components in microscale. Based on previous work on the mathematic model of carbon nanotube strain sensors, this paper presents a detailed study on the optimization, diversification, and standardization of a CNT strain sensor from the viewpoint of metrology. A new miniaccessory for polarization control is designed, and two different preparing methods for CNT films as sensing media are introduced to provide diversified choices for applications. Then, the standard procedure of creating CNT strain sensors is proposed. Application experiments confirmed the effectiveness of the above improvement, which is helpful in developing this method for convenient metrology.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 2531
Author(s):  
Yelin Ko ◽  
Ji-seon Kim ◽  
Chi Cuong Vu ◽  
Jooyong Kim

Flexible strain sensors are receiving a great deal of interest owing to their prospective applications in monitoring various human activities. Among various efforts to enhance the sensitivity of strain sensors, pre-crack generation has been well explored for elastic polymers but rarely on textile substrates. Herein, a highly sensitive textile-based strain sensor was fabricated via a dip-coat-stretch approach: a polyester woven elastic band was dipped into ink containing single-walled carbon nanotubes coated with silver paste and pre-stretched to generate prebuilt cracks on the surface. Our sensor demonstrated outstanding sensitivity (a gauge factor of up to 3550 within a strain range of 1.5–5%), high stability and durability, and low hysteresis. The high performance of this sensor is attributable to the excellent elasticity and woven structure of the fabric substrate, effectively generating and propagating the prebuilt cracks. The strain sensor integrated into firefighting gloves detected detailed finger angles and cyclic finger motions, demonstrating its capability for subtle human motion monitoring. It is also noteworthy that this novel strategy is a very quick, straightforward, and scalable method of fabricating strain sensors, which is extremely beneficial for practical applications.


Nanoscale ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (28) ◽  
pp. 13599-13606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Binghao Liang ◽  
Zhiqiang Lin ◽  
Wenjun Chen ◽  
Zhongfu He ◽  
Jing Zhong ◽  
...  

A highly stretchable and sensitive strain sensor based on a gradient carbon nanotube was developed. The strain sensors show an unprecedented combination of both high sensitivity (gauge factor = 13.5) and ultra-stretchability (>550%).


Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 395
Author(s):  
Satoshi Konishi ◽  
Fuminari Mori ◽  
Ayano Shimizu ◽  
Akiya Hirata

Motion capture of a robot and tactile sensing for a robot require sensors. Strain sensors are used to detect bending deformation of the robot finger and to sense the force from an object. It is important to introduce sensors in effective combination with actuators without affecting the original performance of the robot. We are interested in the improvement of flexible strain sensors integrated into soft microrobot fingers using a pneumatic balloon actuator (PBA). A strain sensor using a microchannel filled with liquid metal was developed for soft PBAs by considering the compatibility of sensors and actuators. Inflatable deformation generated by PBAs, however, was found to affect sensor characteristics. This paper presents structural reinforcement of a liquid metal-based sensor to solve this problem. Parylene C film was deposited into a microchannel to reinforce its structure against the inflatable deformation caused by a PBA. Parylene C deposition into a microchannel suppressed the interference of inflatable deformation. The proposed method enables the effective combination of soft PBAs and a flexible liquid metal strain sensor for use in microrobot fingers.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Waris Obitayo ◽  
Tao Liu

The use of carbon nanotubes for piezoresistive strain sensors has acquired significant attention due to its unique electromechanical properties. In this comprehensive review paper, we discussed some important aspects of carbon nanotubes for strain sensing at both the nanoscale and macroscale. Carbon nanotubes undergo changes in their band structures when subjected to mechanical deformations. This phenomenon makes them applicable for strain sensing applications. This paper signifies the type of carbon nanotubes best suitable for piezoresistive strain sensors. The electrical resistivities of carbon nanotube thin film increase linearly with strain, making it an ideal material for a piezoresistive strain sensor. Carbon nanotube composite films, which are usually fabricated by mixing small amounts of single-walled or multiwalled carbon nanotubes with selected polymers, have shown promising characteristics of piezoresistive strain sensors. Studies also show that carbon nanotubes display a stable and predictable voltage response as a function of temperature.


2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin-Ho Kim ◽  
Young-Ju Kim ◽  
Woon Kyung Baek ◽  
Kwon Taek Lim ◽  
Inpil Kang

Materials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donghyeon Ryu ◽  
Alfred Mongare

In this study, a flexible strain sensor is devised using corrugated bilayer thin films consisting of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-polystyrene(sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). In previous studies, the P3HT-based photoactive non-corrugated thin film was shown to generate direct current (DC) under broadband light, and the generated DC voltage varied with applied tensile strain. Yet, the mechanical resiliency and strain sensing range of the P3HT-based thin film strain sensor were limited due to brittle non-corrugated thin film constituents. To address this issue, it is aimed to design a mechanically resilient strain sensor using corrugated thin film constituents. Buckling is induced to form corrugation in the thin films by applying pre-strain to the substrate, where the thin films are deposited, and releasing the pre-strain afterwards. It is known that corrugated thin film constituents exhibit different optical and electronic properties from non-corrugated ones. Therefore, to design the flexible strain sensor, it was studied to understand how the applied pre-strain and thickness of the PEDOT:PSS conductive thin film affects the optical and electrical properties. In addition, strain effect was investigated on the optical and electrical properties of the corrugated thin film constituents. Finally, flexible strain sensors are fabricated by following the design guideline, which is suggested from the studies on the corrugated thin film constituents, and the DC voltage strain sensing capability of the flexible strain sensors was validated. As a result, the flexible strain sensor exhibited a tensile strain sensing range up to 5% at a frequency up to 15 Hz with a maximum gauge factor ~7.


2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (18) ◽  
pp. 2155-2159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Miao ◽  
L. Chen ◽  
Y. Lin ◽  
R. Sammynaiken ◽  
W. J. Zhang

The use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for construction of sensors is promising. This is due to some unique characteristics of CNTs. In recent years, strain sensors built from CNT composite films have been developed; however, their low piezoresistive sensitivity (gauge factor (GF)) in in-plane strain detection is a concern compared with other strain sensors. This article reports an experimental discovery of the superior piezoresistive response of a CNT film that is free of surfactants, known as the pure CNT film. The mechanism for the high GF with the pure CNT film strain sensors is also discussed.


Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 2901
Author(s):  
Peng Zhang ◽  
Yucheng Chen ◽  
Yuxia Li ◽  
Yao Zhang ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
...  

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...]


Author(s):  
Mohammed Al-Rubaiai ◽  
Ryohei Tsuruta ◽  
Taewoo Nam ◽  
Umesh Gandhi ◽  
Xiaobo Tan

Abstract Inflatable structures provide significant volume and weight savings for future space and soft robotic applications. Structural health monitoring (SHM) of these structures is essential to ensuring safe operation, providing early warnings of damage, and measuring structural changes over time. In this paper, we propose the design of a single flexible strain sensor for distributed monitoring of an inflatable tube, in particular, the detection and localization of a kink should that occur. Several commercially available conductive materials, including 3D-printing filaments, conductive paint, and conductive fabrics are explored for their strain-sensing performance, where the resistance change under uniaxial tension is measured, and the corresponding gauge factor (GF) is characterized. Flexible strain sensors are then fabricated and integrated with an inflatable structure fabric using screen-printing or 3D-printing techniques, depending on the nature of the raw conductive material. Among the tested materials, the conductive paint shows the highest stability, with GF of 15 and working strain range of 2.28%. Finally, the geometry of the sensor is designed to enable distributed monitoring of an inflatable tube. In particular, for a given deformation magnitude, the sensor output shows a monotonic relationship with the location where the deformation is applied, thus enabling the monitoring of the entire tube with a single sensor.


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