3D printed high-performance flexible strain sensors based on carbon nanotube and graphene nanoplatelet filled polymer co
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3D printed high-performance flexible strain sensors based on carbon nanotube and graphene nanoplatelet filled polymer composites Dong Xiang1,*, Xuezhong Zhang1, Zhuohang Han1, Zixi Zhang1, Zuoxin Zhou2, Eileen Harkin-Jones3, Jie Zhang4, Xia Luo1, Ping Wang1, Chunxia Zhao1, and Yuntao Li1,* 1
School of New Energy and Materials, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China Center for Additive Manufacturing, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK 3 School of Engineering, University of Ulster, Jordanstown BT37 0QB, UK 4 School of Mechatronic Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China 2
Received: 9 March 2020
ABSTRACT
Accepted: 12 July 2020
In this study, high-performance flexible strain sensors based on carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) filled thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) composites were fabricated via Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) 3D printing. The introduction of GNPs generated a more complete conductive network of the composites due to the improved nanofiller dispersion. Due to the synergy of CNTs and GNPs, the printed CNT/GNP(3:1)/TPU sensor shows higher sensitivity (GF = 136327.4 at 250% strain), larger detectable range (0–250% strain), and better stability (3000 cycles) compared with the CNT/TPU and GNP/TPU sensors with a nanofiller content of 2 wt%. Furthermore, the printed sensors can accurately detect strains at different frequencies (0.01–1 Hz). A modelling study based on tunneling theory was conducted to analysis the strain sensing mechanism, and the theoretical results agreed well with the experimental data. The capability of the sensors in monitoring physiological activities and speech recognition has also been demonstrated.
Published online: 27 August 2020
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Springer Science+Business
Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Handling Editor: Dale Huber. Dong Xiang and Xuezhong Zhang have contributed equally to this work.
Address correspondence to E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05137-w
15770 Introduction With the increasing level of automation in industrial production, the global market for strain sensors is expanding [1]. However, conventional strain sensors made of metal and semiconductor materials usually show limited sensitivity [2]. Also, the flexibility and strain range of such sensors do not meet the performance requirements of a high strain field. Therefore, there is a need to develop suitable flexible strain sensors to meet industrial needs. The rapid growth and development of nanomaterials in the last decade has enabled their use in strain sensing applications. Currently, the nanomaterials widely used in the preparation of flexible sensors include graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) [3], reduced graphene oxide (rGO), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) [4], silver nanowires (AgNWs), and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). For instance, Zhang et al. [5] reported a method for preparing strain sensors of TPU/CNT composite films using solution blending,
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