Strain Sensors Made of MXene, CNTs, and TPU/PSF Asymmetric Structure Films with Large Tensile Recovery and Applied in Human Health Monitoring.

Abstract

Designing flexible wearable sensors with a wide sensing range, high sensitivity, and high stability is a vulnerable research direction with a futuristic field to study. In this paper, Ti3C2Tx MXene/carbon nanotube (CNT)/thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)/polysulfone (PSF) composite films with excellent sensor performance were obtained by self-assembly of conductive fillers in TPU/PSF porous films with an asymmetric structure through vacuum filtration, and the porous films were prepared by the phase inversion method. The composite films consist of the upper part with finger-like "cavities" filled by MXene/CNTs, which reduces the microcracks in the conductive network during the tensile process, and the lower part has smaller apertures of a relatively dense resin cortex assisting the recovery process. The exclusive layer structure of the MXene/CNTs/TPU/PSF film sensor, with a thickness of 46.95 μm, contains 0.0339 mg/cm2 single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and 0.348 mg/cm2 MXene only, providing functional range (0-80.7%), high sensitivity (up to 1265.18), and excellent stability and durability (stable sensing under 2300 fatigue tests, viable to the initial resistance), endurably cycled under large strains with serious damage to the conductive network. Finally, the MXene/CNTs/TPU/PSF film sensor is usable for monitoring pulse, swallow, tiptoe, and various joint bends in real time and distributing effective electrical signals. This paper implies that the MXene/CNTs/TPU/PSF film sensor has broad prospects in pragmatic applications.