Design and development of a flexible strain sensor for textile structures based on a conductive polymer composite
Design and development of a flexible strain sensor for textile structures based on a conductive polymer composite
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DOI：
10.3390/s7040473
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发表时间：
2007-04-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
Dufour, Claude
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cochrane, Cedric;Koncar, Vladan;Dufour, Claude
这项工作的目的是开发一种适用于纺织结构的智能柔性传感器，能够测量其应变变形。传感器之所以“智能”，是因为它们能够适应纺织结构的特定机械特性，这些特性具有重量轻、高度灵活、可拉伸、有弹性等特点。由于这些特性，即使在非常低的应力下，纺织结构也会持续运动并容易变形。因此，重要的是，传感器的集成不会改变它们的一般行为。传感器使用的材料是基于热塑性弹性体(氯丁橡胶)/碳黑纳米颗粒复合材料，并表现出与纺织基材高度兼容的一般机械性能。研究了两种制备技术：传统的熔融混合工艺和被发现更适合于这一特殊应用的溶剂法。详细描述了制备过程，即从填料浓度的角度对工艺进行了优化，其中必须考虑渗流理论方面的因素。然后将传感器集成在薄而轻的尼龙织物上，并进行机电表征，以证明传感器作为织物上的应变计的适应性和正确功能。为了表征传感器的电学响应，定义了归一化相对电阻。最后，研究了温度、大气湿度等环境因素对传感器性能的影响。结果表明，传感器的电阻受湿度的影响较大。根据炭黑填料颗粒对水存在的敏感性来讨论这一行为。
The aim of this work is to develop a smart flexible sensor adapted to textile structures, able to measure their strain deformations. The sensors are "smart" because of their capacity to adapt to the specific mechanical properties of textile structures that are lightweight, highly flexible, stretchable, elastic, etc. Because of these properties, textile structures are continuously in movement and easily deformed, even under very low stresses. It is therefore important that the integration of a sensor does not modify their general behavior. The material used for the sensor is based on a thermoplastic elastomer (Evoprene)/carbon black nanoparticle composite, and presents general mechanical properties strongly compatible with the textile substrate. Two preparation techniques are investigated: the conventional melt-mixing process, and the solvent process which is found to be more adapted for this particular application. The preparation procedure is fully described, namely the optimization of the process in terms of filler concentration in which the percolation theory aspects have to be considered. The sensor is then integrated on a thin, lightweight Nylon fabric, and the electromechanical characterization is performed to demonstrate the adaptability and the correct functioning of the sensor as a strain gauge on the fabric. A normalized relative resistance is defined in order to characterize the electrical response of the sensor. Finally, the influence of environmental factors, such as temperature and atmospheric humidity, on the sensor performance is investigated. The results show that the sensor's electrical resistance is particularly affected by humidity. This behavior is discussed in terms of the sensitivity of the carbon black filler particles to the presence of water.