Issue 3, 2024

3D printed modular piezoionic sensors using dynamic covalent bonds

Abstract

Flexible and lightweight sensors can assess their environment for a broad range of applications that include wearables for health monitoring and soft robotics. While 2D and 3D printing enables control over sensor design in multiple dimensions, customizability of a sensor toward different individual use cases is still limited because each sensor requires a new design and manufacturing process. Thus, there is a need for methodologies that produce modular sensor components that can be assembled and customized by an individual user. Herein, we demonstrate 3D printed, elastomeric ionogels comprising covalent adaptable networks (CANs) for modular sensor assemblies. Reversible Diels–Alder connections incorporated into the network can occur at the interface between two 3D printed objects in physical contact with each other. As a result, modular components can be combined and assembled on-demand into customized piezoionic sensors. Thermal curing of these modular blocks triggered the dynamic remodeling of the polymer networks that caused them to become fused together. Three different configurations (linear, cyclic, and box assemblies) were demonstrated to afford piezoionic sensors from the same set of 3D printed building blocks. This study highlights the benefits of dynamic covalent networks toward decentralized manufacturing, wherein a modular approach enables customization of 3D printed parts without the need for modifying the original design.

Graphical abstract: 3D printed modular piezoionic sensors using dynamic covalent bonds

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 Dec. 2023
Accepted
09 Febr. 2024
First published
20 Febr. 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Appl. Polym., 2024,2, 434-443

3D printed modular piezoionic sensors using dynamic covalent bonds

J. Smith-Jones, N. Ballinger, N. Sadaba, X. Lopez de Pariza, Y. Yao, S. L. Craig, H. Sardon and A. Nelson, RSC Appl. Polym., 2024, 2, 434 DOI: 10.1039/D3LP00289F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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