3D printable composite dough for stretchable, ultrasensitive and body-patchable strain sensors

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Wearable Electronics

Background:

• Strain sensor devices are crucial for monitoring human motion in wearable electronics and human-machine interfaces.
• Existing materials often lack the necessary properties for versatile and high-performance strain sensing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a low-cost, 3D printable composite dough for fabricating advanced strain sensor devices.
• To investigate the tunability of sensor performance by controlling printing parameters.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a composite dough using amine-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene oxides via electrostatic assembly.
• Utilizing a vertically-stackable, 3D printing process enabled by the dough's high storage modulus.
• Characterization of device performance parameters like gauge factor, hysteresis, linearity, and overshooting behavior.

Main Results:

• The composite dough is suitable for 3D printing strain sensors on diverse substrates.
• Device performance is adjustable by controlling printing process parameters.
• Achieved a high gauge factor (>70) and detectability of strains below 1%.

Conclusions:

• The developed 3D printable composite dough offers a versatile platform for high-performance strain sensor fabrication.
• The sensors effectively distinguish human body motions, showing potential for advanced wearable applications.