Materials and structure engineering in wearable monitor: Highly stretchable strain sensor developed by structured SWCNTs/CB networks

Abstract

There is an increasing demand for flexible and wearable strain sensors for the potential applications in wearable monitor, including human activities, human-machine interfaces and master devices for teleoperated robotic system, etc. Herein, we propose a highly stretchable strain sensor developed by structured single-walled carbon nanotube /carbon black (SWCNTs/CB) networks for wearable monitor. The fabrication process, strain sensing mechanism and characterization of the sandwich-structured strain sensor were systematacially investigated. The results show that the sandwich-structured strain sensor has high stretchability of strain up to 160%, a sensitivity with the gauge factor (GF) approximate 1.04, as well as high stability and reproducibility of 1000 repeated stretching/releasing cycles. Furthermore, bending of elbow and knee was recorded, demonstrating that the highly stretchable strain sensor could have promising applications in flexible and wearable devices for human motion monitoring.