Printable Low-Cost and Exible Carbon Nanotube Buckypaper Motion Sensors
Printable Low-Cost and Exible Carbon Nanotube Buckypaper Motion Sensors
Printable Low-Cost and Exible Carbon Nanotube Buckypaper Motion Sensors
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Jean-Fabien Capsal
Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon
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H I G H L I G H T S G R A P H I C A L A B S T R A C T
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: Wearable technology, which features affordable and flexible sensors integrated into fabrics and garments to de-
Received 4 April 2017 tect both deliberate and subtle body movements, will reshape the way we approach self-rehabilitation, physical
Received in revised form 23 July 2017 training, and many high-dexterity tasks by harvesting data about the wearer's activity. Metallic and semi-
Accepted 24 July 2017
conductor sensors are currently the most commercially viable sensors. Metallic sensors designs are low profile
Available online 25 July 2017
and flexible; however, they are limited by low sensitivity and complex manufacturing. Semi-conductor sensor
Keywords:
designs are highly sensitive but limited by their rigidity and brittle nature. Wearable sensors that are low profile,
Carbon nanotubes flexible, and sensitive to micro-strains are highly desired. We have developed a printable and low profile strain
Buckypaper sensor using multi-wall carbon nanotube thin films called buckypaper (MWCNT-BP). Our tests indicate that
Flexible electronics the buckypaper sensors are 77% more sensitive than similar sensor designs. This paper explains the low-cost
Printed electronics printing technology and displays the sensors' performance after integration into a fabric glove.
Wearable technology © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2017.07.048
0264-1275/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
48 J. DeGraff et al. / Materials and Design 133 (2017) 47–53
challenge to the scientific community. Tactile sensors that are based on improvement slows as CNT concentration increases beyond this thresh-
piezoresistivity mechanisms, in which electrical resistance changes old value [21,25–27]. Darabi et al. recently showcased the potential of
under applied strain, are the most common due to their simplicity and carbon nanotubes by dispersing a small amount of CNTs (b10 wt%)
affordability. Metal-foil sensors have been a standard due to their flexi- into chewing gum to make flexible tactile sensors that can detect
bility and low profile; however, they are limited by low sensitivity with sneezes and breathing patterns [1].
a gauge factor (GF) ≈ 2. The resistance variation derives from changes The use of individual carbon nanotubes is showing promise, but the
in the effective length of the sensing element. As a result, they behave sensor designs are limited to the laboratory scale. In addition, sensitivity
as fixed directional sensors that are limited to sensing strain in a specific is considerably low, and manufacturing methods are difficult to repeat
direction. Alternatively, highly sensitive (GF ≈ 200) semi-conducting [10]. Carbon nanotube buckypaper (CNT-BP) films have helped elimi-
sensors made of crystalline silicone (Si) are limited by their rigidity nate process complexity [13,14,23,28,29]. Paper materials, such as
and a restricted working range. Achieving wearable tactile sensing re- CNT-BP, have recently attracted increased research and commercial in-
quires novel approaches in design and structural engineering. terest for next-generation wearable technology due to their lightweight,
Recent research has focused on manufacturing carbon nanotube scalable manufacturing processes, and conformability [30].
(CNT)-based sensors. CNTs demonstrate high tensile strength Buckypaper is a dense, carbon nanotube network that exhibits im-
(~ 100 GPa), Young's modulus (~ 1 TPa), and electrical conductivity proved sensitivity to local distributions of stress compared to individual
(106–107 S/m), and feature a large aspect ratio (N106). The unique com- CNTs. Multi-walled CNT-BP (MWCNT-BP) has a well-distributed, yet
bination of high elastic modulus and impressive electrical properties random structure that provides several degrees of freedom, which is a
promotes excellent sensor characteristics compared to traditional sen- key advantage over metallic foil strain gauges [3]. MWCNT-BP film sen-
sors [1–3,5,7–16]. The structure of carbon nanotubes has a significant sors have displayed a greater working range than single-walled carbon
influence on their electrical properties. Thus, mechanical deformation nanotube buckypaper [10].
alters the structure, which then alters the conductivity of the CNT. Recently, Suzuki et al. designed highly sensitive (GF N 10) buckypaper
This is the essence of the carbon nanotube piezo-resistivity [17]. strain sensors by spin-coating aligned MWCNT buckypaper films with
Researchers have developed CNT-based sensors following a low-modulus polyurethane (PU) resin and an elasticity-assist layer
manufacturing process that involves dispersing CNTs into a viable poly- made of polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF) [14]. The sensors were successfully
mer matrix. Hu et al. performed a detailed investigation on various pro- integrated into fabric gloves to sense a pianist's finger motions. Compat-
cess parameters including different polymers, CNT types, curing ibility with a printing process is highly desirable for next-generation tac-
processes, mixing processes, and types of additives. Hu discovered tile sensors. With the advances of printing technology, printing is simple,
that the process complexity affects how well the CNTs form the conduc- cost-efficient, and capable of large-area and high-throughput production.
tive pathways within the matrix to achieve high sensing performance In this report, we present a highly sensitive, low-cost strain sensor that
[18]. CNT/polymer films follow a percolation-like power law, in which takes advantage of the advances in printed electronics in conjunction
a CNT concentration threshold (wt%) is required to begin cultivating with the low-profile (7 μm), lightweight (5 g/m2) and multi-
the percolation network in the host matrix [19–24]. As concentration functionality of MWCNT buckypaper. This type of affordable, flexible
surpasses the percolation threshold, electrical conductivity in the ma- strain sensor can be deployed in various applications ranging from tactile
trix significantly increases. However, once the network forms, the sensing in wearable technology to structural health monitoring.
Fig. 1. Multi-wall carbon nanotube buckypaper; a. continuous roll of MWCNT buckypaper, b. scanning electron microscopy images at 100× and 100,000× magnification.
J. DeGraff et al. / Materials and Design 133 (2017) 47–53 49
2. Materials and methods between the sensing element and polymer is critical. Laminating the
structure ensures interfacial binding between the materials to facilitate
2.1. Multi-walled carbon nanotube buckypaper fabrication fast responses and cyclic performance with limited hysteresis [6,10,33].
Fig. 2 presents the manufacturing process, which is low-cost and
The fabrication process for MWCNT-BP first involves creating sus- scalable given the simplicity and commercial availability on ink-jet
pension of uniformly dispersed CNTs through sonication. The fabrica- printing technology. Silver ink electrodes were printed on a thin poly-
tion procedure has been documented in detail by Smalley [31] and ethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate using a one-pass printer. Com-
Wang [32]; however, Triton-X surfactant has been added to the suspen- mercially available, water-based silver ink from NovaCentrix was used
sion to further improve the CNT dispersions by reducing the surface en- to print the electrodes. The composition included 25 wt% silver particles
ergies between CNT bundles. Highly dispersed CNTs promote high (d ≈ 60–80 nm), 1–15 wt% ethylene glycol, and 60–75 wt% water. The
quality films in terms of both mechanical and electrical properties. ink was emission-free and dries quickly. Once the silver electrodes
After dispersing the nanotubes, the suspension is then filtrated onto a were printed, a buckypaper strip was positioned between the sub-
substrate through a mesh filter and dried. The resultant free-standing strate's printed contacts and laminated.
films are repeatedly washed with distilled water and heated at 850 °C The buckypaper is considerably thin and avoids influencing wavi-
under argon gas for 4 h to remove residual surfactant and impurities. ness in the final laminated structure. The printed electrodes provide
Fig. 1 presents a 2 m-long continuous roll of buckypaper along with each end of the buckypaper strips with a fixed electrical contact. The
scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. Buckypaper consists of closely paired ends of the printed silver electrodes were crimped with
tightly packed CNT networks compared to solvent-cast CNT/polymer male connectors using a Nicomatic CrimpFlex tool for electrical con-
sensors. The dense and conductive network of buckypaper provides a tacts. Three fundamental principles define this manufacturing strategy.
more sensitive response to strain changes. The MWCNT-BPs used in The first exploits an observation in basic mechanics. Polymers that are
this research were 6 μm thick, which exhibited an electrical conductivity sufficiently thin will also be flexible. Fig. 3 displays the sensor design's
of 200 S/cm and a possessed an elastic modulus of almost 3GPa. low profile and flexibility. The second idea is based on the
piezoresistivity response to stress in buckypaper [7,11,19]. A dense net-
2.2. Ink-jet printed sensor design work of conductive CNTs promotes a seamless flow of current; however,
under tensile stress, the network stretches and becomes less dense. This
The sensor structure includes a strip of buckypaper (20 mm × 3 mm reduces the number of percolative pathways and ultimately reduces
× 0.006 mm) and a PET substrate with printed circuitry on its surface. conductivity. Fig. 4 illustrates the reversible changes in the CNT network
The structure was laminated with a film to protect the sensor compo- due to both tensile and compression strains. As the network stretches,
nents and hold the buckypaper strips in position. The interaction the number of conductive paths reduces. This leads to limited tunneling
Fig. 2. Manufacturing process flow for buckypaper strain sensors. It includes printing, laminating, and cutting.
50 J. DeGraff et al. / Materials and Design 133 (2017) 47–53
effects and increased resistance [19,23,28]. As the network compresses, RBP R4 −R2 R3
Vout ¼ VA −VB ¼ V ð2Þ
the contrary occurs leading to increased conductivity [34]. The third ðRBP þ R2 ÞðR3 þ R4 Þ in
manufacturing principle exploits the recent advances in printed elec-
tronics, more specifically inkjet printing (IJP), which has the advantages R2–4 are known values that were chosen with the purpose of
of short production time, low cost, minimal waste, high spatial resolu- balancing the bridge. The bridge is balanced when Vout is null when
tion, and good reproducibility. the sensor is at rest. Eq. (3) presents the general rule for balancing a
Wheatstone bridge [35].
Fig. 4. Schematic of buckypaper before and after being stretched. The induced gaps in the Fig. 5. Schematic of the Wheatstone bridge characterization setup, where Vin = 3 V and
conductive network increases electrical resistance. RBP ≈ R2 = R3 = R4 to balance the bridge.
J. DeGraff et al. / Materials and Design 133 (2017) 47–53 51
Fig. 6. BP strain sensor's dynamic response: (a) Measured sensitivity based on a Wheatstone bridge configuration. (b) Gauge factor versus strain comparison.
Eq. (4) expresses the change in the output voltage with respect to can be simplified to determine sensor sensitivity, as expressed in
the induced change in resistance (ΔRBP) due to an applied strain [35]. Eq. (5).
By using equivalent resistors for R2–4, the three resistors can be rep- By solving for ΔRBP, the gauge factor (GF) can be determined using
resented as a single resistance (RBP ≈ R2 = R3 = R4 = R). Now, Eq. (4) Eq. (6). The gauge factor expresses the sensitivity of the piezoresistive
Fig. 7. Comparison of commercial and other CNT-based sensors' gauge factors. The printed BP sensor's gauge factor remains consistent for N10,000 cycles.
52 J. DeGraff et al. / Materials and Design 133 (2017) 47–53
Fig. 8. Experimental results from monitoring fingers using BP strain gauge that was fastened to a glove.
J. DeGraff et al. / Materials and Design 133 (2017) 47–53 53
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