Graphene welded carbon nanotube crossbars for biaxial strain sensors

Aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays are promising candidates for strain sensors owing to their scalable preparation and excellent conductivity and stretchability. However, aligned CNT arrays are limited by low strain sensitivity and buckling deformation. In addition, cross-stacked CNT array films l...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Carbon (New York) 2017-10, Vol.123, p.786-793
Main Authors: Shi, Jidong, Hu, Jing, Dai, Zhaohe, Zhao, Wei, Liu, Peng, Zhao, Lingyu, Guo, Yichuan, Yang, Tingting, Zou, Liang, Jiang, Kaili, Li, Hongbian, Fang, Ying
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carbon nanotubes
Conductivity
Deformation
Deformation mechanisms
Finite element method
Graphene
Load transfer
Mechanical properties
Nanotubes
Sensitivity
Sensor arrays
Sensors
Sound waves
Spatial distribution
Strain
Strain gauges
Stress concentration
Stretchability
Substrates
Tactile
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays are promising candidates for strain sensors owing to their scalable preparation and excellent conductivity and stretchability. However, aligned CNT arrays are limited by low strain sensitivity and buckling deformation. In addition, cross-stacked CNT array films layer-by-layer assembled on soft substrates exhibit anisotropic mechanical behavior due to their asymmetric layered structures. In this work, we introduced a chemically hybridized CNT-graphene (G/CNT) film in which CNT crossbars are effectively welded together by graphene. The hybrid films demonstrate enhanced isotropic mechanical properties and strain sensitivity with a gauge factor of ∼3, together with a high stretchability of more than 20%. The enhanced electromechanical properties are attributed to the improved load transfer efficiency among CNTs by graphene hybridization, as confirmed by Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Biaxial strain sensors based on the hybridized G/CNT films have been applied for sensitive detection of both minute vibrations caused by sound waves and large deformations from finger bending. The sensors were further integrated into a tactile sensing array to map the spatial distribution of the surface pressures. [Display omitted]
ISSN:0008-6223
1873-3891
DOI:10.1016/j.carbon.2017.08.006