scholarly journals Review on Conductive Polymer/CNTs Nanocomposites Based Flexible and Stretchable Strain and Pressure Sensors

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 341
Author(s):  
Olfa Kanoun ◽  
Ayda Bouhamed ◽  
Rajarajan Ramalingame ◽  
Jose Roberto Bautista-Quijano ◽  
Dhivakar Rajendran ◽  
...  

In the last decade, significant developments of flexible and stretchable force sensors have been witnessed in order to satisfy the demand of several applications in robotic, prosthetics, wearables and structural health monitoring bringing decisive advantages due to their manifold customizability, easy integration and outstanding performance in terms of sensor properties and low-cost realization. In this paper, we review current advances in this field with a special focus on polymer/carbon nanotubes (CNTs) based sensors. Based on the electrical properties of polymer/CNTs nanocomposite, we explain underlying principles for pressure and strain sensors. We highlight the influence of the manufacturing processes on the achieved sensing properties and the manifold possibilities to realize sensors using different shapes, dimensions and measurement procedures. After an intensive review of the realized sensor performances in terms of sensitivity, stretchability, stability and durability, we describe perspectives and provide novel trends for future developments in this intriguing field.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maarten Soudijn ◽  
Sebastiaan van Rossum ◽  
Ane de Boer

<p>In this paper we present weight measurements of urban heavy traffic comparing two different Weigh In Motion (WIM) systems. One is a WIM-ROAD system using Lineas quartz pressure sensors in the road surface. The other is a WIM-BRIDGE system using optical fibre-based strain sensors which are applied under the bridge to the bottom fibre of a single span of the bridge deck. We have designed our tests to determine which system is most suited to Amsterdam. We put special focus on the accuracy that each system can achieve and have set up an extensive calibration program to determine this. Our ultimate goal is to draw up a realistic traffic load model for Amsterdam. This model would lead to a recommendation that can be used to re- examine the structural safety of existing historic bridges and quay walls, in addition to the current traffic load recommendations.</p>


Proceedings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (13) ◽  
pp. 746
Author(s):  
Justus Landsiedel ◽  
Tung Pham ◽  
Thomas Bechtold

The integration of strand-based pressure sensors directly into woven textiles is a promising strategy to maintain textile properties, such as the flexibility, and to functionalize fabrics. The development of capacitive sensing elements is often based on the construction of laminates, which adversely affect the flexibility and thickness of textiles. In this paper, we present two alternative approaches by manufacturing cylindrical, pressure-sensitive, variable capacitors and twisted strand-based capacitive sensors. They lead to an easy integration method, where sensors can either be embedded or used to construct the body of textiles. In the cause of these studies, SBR/gelatin has been found to be a very useful pressure sensitive insulation system for the production of low cost capacitive sensors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-140
Author(s):  
Tianbo Qiao

At present, the flexible electronic materials with both good flexibility and conductivity have become a major development trend of electronic materials in the future. Due to their flexibility in construction, controllable mechanical properties and electrical conductivity, the conductive polymer-based hydrogels (CPHs) are expected to become one of the candidate materials in flexible electronics and other fields, and have received extensive attention from researchers. However, the existing CPH systems generally have shortcomings such as low mechanical strength and single function. To this end, the authors attempt to construct a hydrogel using polyaniline (PANI) as the conductive component and polyacrylic acid (PAA) as the flexible component through in-situ polymerization and physical blending. The designed PAA/PANI conductive polymer-based hydrogel enjoys ultra-long stretchability and high strength. It can be used in the flexible strain sensors and pressure sensors to detect the step cycle of the multi-legged robot in real time, and adjust their rhythm during the walking gait, thereby achieving the physical balance. This paper provides a new idea for the application of the CPHs, and especially offers a wealth of theoretical foundation and practical experience for the research on its application to the flexible strain sensors.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (15) ◽  
pp. 5069
Author(s):  
Tim Mike de Rijk ◽  
Walter Lang

Flexible pressure sensors with piezoresistive polymer composites can be integrated into elastomers to measure pressure changes in sealings, preemptively indicating a replacement is needed before any damage or leakage occurs. Integrating small percentages of high aspect ratio multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into polymers does not significantly change its mechanical properties but highly affects its electrical properties. This research shows a pressure sensor based on homogeneous dispersed MWCNTs in polydimethylsiloxane with a high sensitivity region (0.13% kPa−1, 0–200 kPa) and sensitive up to 500 kPa. A new 3D-printed mold is developed to directly deposit the conductive polymer on the electrode structures, enabling sensor thicknesses as small as 100 μm.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Libing Liu ◽  
Dong Xiang ◽  
Yuanpeng Wu ◽  
Zuoxin Zhou ◽  
Hui Li ◽  
...  

With the development of wearable electronic devices, conductive polymer composites (CPCs) based flexible strain sensors are gaining tremendous popularity. In recent years, the applications of additive manufacturing (AM) technology (also known as 3D printing) in fabricating CPCs based flexible strain sensors have attracted the attention of researchers due to their advantages of mold-free structure, low cost, short time, and high accuracy. AM technology, based on material extrusion, photocuring, and laser sintering, produces complex and high-precision CPCs based wearable sensors through layer-by-layer stacking of printing material. Some high-performance CPCs based strain sensors are developed by employing different 3D printing technologies and printing materials. In this mini-review, we summarize and discuss the performance and applications of 3D printed CPCs based strain sensors in recent years. Finally, the current challenges and prospects of 3D printed strain sensors are also discussed to provide an insight into the future of strain sensors using 3D printing technology.


Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 3512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corina Covaci ◽  
Aurel Gontean

The goal of this paper is to review current methods of energy harvesting, while focusing on piezoelectric energy harvesting. The piezoelectric energy harvesting technique is based on the materials’ property of generating an electric field when a mechanical force is applied. This phenomenon is known as the direct piezoelectric effect. Piezoelectric transducers can be of different shapes and materials, making them suitable for a multitude of applications. To optimize the use of piezoelectric devices in applications, a model is needed to observe the behavior in the time and frequency domain. In addition to different aspects of piezoelectric modeling, this paper also presents several circuits used to maximize the energy harvested.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 2944
Author(s):  
Benjamin James Ralph ◽  
Marcel Sorger ◽  
Benjamin Schödinger ◽  
Hans-Jörg Schmölzer ◽  
Karin Hartl ◽  
...  

Smart factories are an integral element of the manufacturing infrastructure in the context of the fourth industrial revolution. Nevertheless, there is frequently a deficiency of adequate training facilities for future engineering experts in the academic environment. For this reason, this paper describes the development and implementation of two different layer architectures for the metal processing environment. The first architecture is based on low-cost but resilient devices, allowing interested parties to work with mostly open-source interfaces and standard back-end programming environments. Additionally, one proprietary and two open-source graphical user interfaces (GUIs) were developed. Those interfaces can be adapted front-end as well as back-end, ensuring a holistic comprehension of their capabilities and limits. As a result, a six-layer architecture, from digitization to an interactive project management tool, was designed and implemented in the practical workflow at the academic institution. To take the complexity of thermo-mechanical processing in the metal processing field into account, an alternative layer, connected with the thermo-mechanical treatment simulator Gleeble 3800, was designed. This framework is capable of transferring sensor data with high frequency, enabling data collection for the numerical simulation of complex material behavior under high temperature processing. Finally, the possibility of connecting both systems by using open-source software packages is demonstrated.


Micromachines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bei Wang ◽  
Manuel Baeuscher ◽  
Xiaodong Hu ◽  
Markus Woehrmann ◽  
Katharina Becker ◽  
...  

A novel capacitive sensor for measuring the water-level and monitoring the water quality has been developed in this work by using an enhanced screen printing technology. A commonly used environment-friendly conductive polymer poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly (styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) for conductive sensors has a limited conductivity due to its high sheet resistance. A physical treatment performed during the printing process has reduced the sheet resistance of printed PEDOT:PSS on polyethylenterephthalat (PET) substrate from 264.39 Ω/sq to 23.44 Ω/sq. The adhesion bonding force between printed PEDOT:PSS and the substrate PET is increased by using chemical treatment and tested using a newly designed adhesive peeling force test. Using the economical conductive ink PEDOT:PSS with this new physical treatment, our capacitive sensors are cost-efficient and have a sensitivity of up to 1.25 pF/mm.


Nanoscale ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 2779-2786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Li ◽  
Santiago Orrego ◽  
Junjie Pan ◽  
Peisheng He ◽  
Sung Hoon Kang

We report a facile sacrificial casting–etching method to synthesize nanoporous carbon nanotube/polymer composites for ultra-sensitive and low-cost piezoresistive pressure sensors.


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