Issue 1, 2016

Electrically conductive thermoplastic elastomer nanocomposites at ultralow graphene loading levels for strain sensor applications

Abstract

An electrically conductive ultralow percolation threshold of 0.1 wt% graphene was observed in the thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) nanocomposites. The homogeneously dispersed graphene effectively enhanced the mechanical properties of TPU significantly at a low graphene loading of 0.2 wt%. These nanocomposites were subjected to cyclic loading to investigate the influences of graphene loading, strain amplitude and strain rate on the strain sensing performances. The two dimensional graphene and the flexible TPU matrix were found to endow these nanocomposites with a wide range of strain sensitivity (gauge factor ranging from 0.78 for TPU with 0.6 wt% graphene at the strain rate of 0.1 min−1 to 17.7 for TPU with 0.2 wt% graphene at the strain rate of 0.3 min−1) and good sensing stability for different strain patterns. In addition, these nanocomposites demonstrated good recoverability and reproducibility after stabilization by cyclic loading. An analytical model based on tunneling theory was used to simulate the resistance response to strain under different strain rates. The change in the number of conductive pathways and tunneling distance under strain was responsible for the observed resistance-strain behaviors. This study provides guidelines for the fabrication of graphene based polymer strain sensors.

Graphical abstract: Electrically conductive thermoplastic elastomer nanocomposites at ultralow graphene loading levels for strain sensor applications

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
02 Sept. 2015
Accepted
24 Nov. 2015
First published
24 Nov. 2015

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2016,4, 157-166

Electrically conductive thermoplastic elastomer nanocomposites at ultralow graphene loading levels for strain sensor applications

H. Liu, Y. Li, K. Dai, G. Zheng, C. Liu, C. Shen, X. Yan, J. Guo and Z. Guo, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2016, 4, 157 DOI: 10.1039/C5TC02751A

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