Lei Dandan, Zhang Hui, Liu Nishuang, Zhang Qixiang, Su Tuoyi, Wang Luoxin, Ren Ziqi, Zhang Zhi, Su Jun, Gao Yihua
School of Physics & Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO), Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430074, People's Republic of China.
Nanotechnology. 2021 Oct 11;32(50). doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac28d8.
Although the wearable strain sensors have received extensive research interest in recent years, it remains a huge challenge conforming the requirements in both of ultrahigh stretchability and high strain coefficient (gauge factor). Herein, a stretchable and flexible spandex fiber strain sensor coupled with carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) that assembled through an efficient and large-scale layer-by layer self-assembly is presented. To ensure CNTs and Ag NPs can attach well to the spandex fiber without falling off, achieving high sensitivity under large tensile, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, polyvinyl alcohol, and polystyrene sulfonic acid are introduced to improve the adhesion via the molecular entanglement and other interactions between them. Consequently, the strain sensor exhibits remarkable performance, such as an ultrahigh gauge factor of 58.5 in the low-strain range from 0% to 20%, a wide strain range (0%-200%), a fast response time of 42 ms and good working stability (>5000 stretching-releasing cycles). Subsequently, detailed mechanism of the sensor and its use in full range of human motion monitoring are further studied. It is worth noting that with the distinctive mechanism and structure, the special spandex fiber sensor is able to monitor minimum strain as low as 0.053%, showing tremendous prospect for the field of smart fabrics and wearable health care devices.
尽管近年来可穿戴应变传感器受到了广泛的研究关注，但要同时满足超高拉伸性和高应变系数（应变因子）的要求仍然是一个巨大的挑战。在此，我们展示了一种通过高效大规模逐层自组装制备的、与碳纳米管（CNTs）/银纳米颗粒（Ag NPs）耦合的可拉伸柔性氨纶纤维应变传感器。为确保碳纳米管和银纳米颗粒能很好地附着在氨纶纤维上而不脱落，在大拉伸下实现高灵敏度，引入了十二烷基苯磺酸钠、聚乙烯醇和聚苯乙烯磺酸，通过它们之间的分子缠结和其他相互作用来提高附着力。因此，该应变传感器表现出卓越的性能，如在0%至20%的低应变范围内具有58.5的超高应变因子、宽应变范围（0% - 200%）、42毫秒的快速响应时间以及良好的工作稳定性（>5000次拉伸 - 释放循环）。随后，进一步研究了该传感器的详细机制及其在全范围人体运动监测中的应用。值得注意的是，凭借独特的机制和结构，这种特殊的氨纶纤维传感器能够监测低至0.053%的最小应变，在智能织物和可穿戴医疗保健设备领域展现出巨大的前景。
