Unidirectional, highly linear strain sensors with thickness-engineered conductive films for precision control of soft machines

Mousavi, S., Thanh Thai, M., Amjadi, M. , Howard, D., Peng, S., Nho Do, T. and Wang, C. H. (2022) Unidirectional, highly linear strain sensors with thickness-engineered conductive films for precision control of soft machines. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 10(26), pp. 13673-13684. (doi: 10.1039/D2TA02064E)

Abstract

Current stretchable strain sensors possess limited linear working ranges and it is still a formidable challenge to develop sensors that concurrently possess high gauge factors and high stretchability (ε ∼100%). Herein, we report a facile method for creating unidirectional strain sensors to address the above issues. Using the 3D printing technique, we introduced thickness variations to control microcracking patterns in a carbon nanofibers-containing PEDOT:PSS thin-film sensor. As a result, the sensor is capable of exceptionally linear response for up to 97% tensile strain while maintaining a high gauge factor of 151.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funding Information: S. M. acknowledges the financial support provided to him by UNSW and CSIRO through an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship (RSRA4088) and a PhD top-up scholarship (RSRT4015), respectively. Scholarship RSRT4015 was funded by CSIRO's Active Integrated Matter Future Science Platform. The authors would like to thank Ms Yuyan Yu for assistance with the oxygen plasma surface treatment instrument.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Amjadi Kolour, Dr Morteza
• Authors: Mousavi, S., Thanh Thai, M., Amjadi, M., Howard, D., Peng, S., Nho Do, T., and Wang, C. H.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Biomedical Engineering
• Journal Name: Journal of Materials Chemistry A
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• ISSN: 2050-7488
• ISSN (Online): 2050-7496
• Published Online: 24 May 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Royal Society of Chemistry
• First Published: First published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A 10(26): 13673-13684
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy