Facile fabrication of stretchable and compressible strain sensors by coating and integrating low-cost melamine foam scaffolds with reduced graphene oxide and poly (styrene-b-ethylene-butylene-b-styrene)

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With the progress of intelligent electronic equipment, flexible and wearable strain sensors are being widely used in various applications such as electronic skins and smart robot. In this work, we proposed a facile method for the preparation of stretchable strain sensors as well as compressible strain sensors by using commercially available melamine form (MF). Firstly, MF was coated with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to construct conductive networks via layer-by-layer assembly of polyethyleneimine and graphene oxide followed by chemical reduction. Thermoplastic elastomer poly (styrene-b-ethylene-butylene-b-styrene) (SEBS) was then infused into the MF@rGO scaffolds through solution absorption method. By adjusting the concentration of SEBS solution used, stretchable and compressible strain sensors were fabricated and both of them exhibited excellent mechanical properties, sensitive responsiveness and electromechanical durability. The deformation capacity of these two types of sensors could reach as high as 50% strain and the maximum gauge factors of stretchable and compressible strain sensors was 2.43 and 1.74, respectively. Stable signals during at least 1000 cycles for both stretchable and compressible strain sensors were well maintained. The potential sensing application of real-time monitoring of human motions was also demonstrated.