Issue 15, 2018

Lightweight, compressible and electrically conductive polyurethane sponges coated with synergistic multiwalled carbon nanotubes and graphene for piezoresistive sensors

Abstract

Lightweight, compressible and highly sensitive pressure/strain sensing materials are highly desirable for the development of health monitoring, wearable devices and artificial intelligence. Herein, a very simple, low-cost and solution-based approach is presented to fabricate versatile piezoresistive sensors based on conductive polyurethane (PU) sponges coated with synergistic multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene. These sensor materials are fabricated by convenient dip-coating layer-by-layer (LBL) electrostatic assembly followed by in situ reduction without using any complicated microfabrication processes. The resultant conductive MWCNT/RGO@PU sponges exhibit very low densities (0.027–0.064 g cm−3), outstanding compressibility (up to 75%) and high electrical conductivity benefiting from the porous PU sponges and synergistic conductive MWCNT/RGO structures. In addition, the MWCNT/RGO@PU sponges present larger relative resistance changes and superior sensing performances under external applied pressures (0–5.6 kPa) and a wide range of strains (0–75%) compared with the RGO@PU and MWCNT@PU sponges, due to the synergistic effect of multiple mechanisms: “disconnect–connect” transition of nanogaps, microcracks and fractured skeletons at low compression strain and compressive contact of the conductive skeletons at high compression strain. The electrical and piezoresistive properties of MWCNT/RGO@PU sponges are strongly associated with the dip-coating cycle, suspension concentration, and the applied pressure and strain. Fully functional applications of MWCNT/RGO@PU sponge-based piezoresistive sensors in lighting LED lamps and detecting human body movements are demonstrated, indicating their excellent potential for emerging applications such as health monitoring, wearable devices and artificial intelligence.

Graphical abstract: Lightweight, compressible and electrically conductive polyurethane sponges coated with synergistic multiwalled carbon nanotubes and graphene for piezoresistive sensors

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Janv. 2018
Accepted
28 Febr. 2018
First published
09 Marts 2018

Nanoscale, 2018,10, 7116-7126

Lightweight, compressible and electrically conductive polyurethane sponges coated with synergistic multiwalled carbon nanotubes and graphene for piezoresistive sensors

Z. Ma, A. Wei, J. Ma, L. Shao, H. Jiang, D. Dong, Z. Ji, Q. Wang and S. Kang, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 7116 DOI: 10.1039/C8NR00004B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements