posted on 2017-11-03, 00:00authored byBangbang Nie, Xiangming Li, Jinyou Shao, Xin Li, Hongmiao Tian, Duorui Wang, Qiang Zhang, Bingheng Lu
Strain
sensors combining high sensitivity with good transparency and flexibility
would be of great usefulness in smart wearable/flexible electronics.
However, the fabrication of such strain sensors is still challenging.
In this study, new strain sensors with embedded multiwalled carbon
nanotubes (MWCNTs) meshes in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films were
designed and tested. The strain sensors showed elevated optical transparency
of up to 87% and high sensitivity with a gauge factor of 1140 at a
small strain of 8.75%. The gauge factors of the sensors were also
found relatively stable since they did not obviously change after
2000 stretching/releasing cycles. The sensors were tested to detect
motion in the human body, such as wrist bending, eye blinking, mouth
phonation, and pulse, and the results were shown to be satisfactory.
Furthermore, the fabrication of the strain sensor consisting of mechanically
blading MWCNTs aqueous dispersions into microtrenches of prestructured
PDMS films was straightforward, was low cost, and resulted in high
yield. All these features testify to the great potential of these
sensors in future real applications.