Abstract
Fabric-based strain sensors can be seamlessly integrated into wearable systems for monitoring various physiological signals. Although many different approaches have been proposed to increase the sensitivity of the fabric-based strain sensor, the linearity and stability in large strains are still challenging. In this paper, a fabric-based strain sensor with good linearity and stability was fabricated via a three-step dip-coating method. Specifically, the combination of multiwall carbon nanotubes and reduced graphene oxide was used as the conductive material to enhance the stability. Meanwhile, microfolded structures between two reduced graphene oxide layers were created via pre-stretching to achieve good linearity. Through mechanical experiments, the performance of the fabric-based strain sensor was characterized. In addition, the practical applications of the strain sensor were demonstrated by monitoring different physiological signals.
Highlights
Soft strain sensors capable of withstanding large strains are found as important elements in various applications, such as wearable devices for monitoring human activity [1], and soft robotics for detecting deformation states [2]
When stretching the conductive fabric, relative sliding between the lower reduced graphene oxide (rGO) layer and the upper rGO layer causes their overlapping area to decrease, thereby leading to the increase in the contact resistance between them
To improve the linearity and stability of the fabric-based strain sensor, this paper proposes a three-step dip-coating method by using multi-wall carbo nanotubes (MWCNTs) and rGOs
Summary
Soft strain sensors capable of withstanding large strains are found as important elements in various applications, such as wearable devices for monitoring human activity [1], and soft robotics for detecting deformation states [2]. With the developments in materials and fabrication technologies, different measurement mechanisms such as capacitance [3,4], resistivity [5], piezoelectricity [6], and inductance [7] have been successfully applied to develop soft strain sensors. Multi-functional fabric sensors were fabricated by coating conductive networks of graphene, which are capable of measuring strain, pressure, and vibrations, and blocking ultraviolet (UV) [30,31]. With the expectation of enhancing the linearity and stability of the fabric-based strain sensor, we dip-coated the fabric with three conductive networks, i.e., one multi-wall carbo nanotubes (MWCNTs) network and two rGO networks.
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