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Electrothermally Actuated Semitransparent Shape Memory Polymer Composite with Application as a Wearable Touch Sensor.

Ronald E Booth¹, Chetna Khanna¹, Harry M Schrickx¹

¹Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Organic and Carbon Electronic Laboratories (ORaCEL), North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, United States.

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

|November 16, 2022

Summary

Shape memory polymer (SMP) and silver nanowire (AgNW) composites enable low-temperature actuation for wearable electronics. These tunable, transparent composites function as sensitive strain and touch sensors, even conforming to the body.

Keywords:

electrothermal actuation shape memory polymer silver nanowire wearable electronics wearable touch sensor

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Area of Science:

Materials Science
Polymer Science
Nanotechnology

Background:

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) offer unique actuation capabilities.
Silver nanowires (AgNWs) are explored for conductive and transparent applications.
Wearable electronics require materials with tunable properties and mechanical robustness.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a semitransparent shape memory polymer:silver nanowire (SMP:AgNW) composite for wearable electronics.
To investigate the tunable electrical and optical properties of the composite.
To evaluate the composite's actuation, strain sensing, and touch sensing capabilities.

Main Methods:

Fabrication of SMP:AgNW composites with varying AgNW loading.
Characterization of electrical, optical, and mechanical properties.
Testing of Joule heating-induced actuation and strain sensing performance.
Implementation as a wearable ring sensor for touch and motion detection.

Main Results:

The SMP:AgNW composite exhibited tunable transparency and maintained mechanical properties.
Electrical actuation was achieved via Joule heating with full shape recovery at 4 V.
High strain sensitivity was observed for both small (<1%) and large (>10%) strains (gauge factor of 8.2 at 0.6% strain).
The composite successfully functioned as a touch sensor differentiating tapping and pressing.
A wearable ring sensor demonstrated conformal fitting and reliable detection of tapping, pressing, and bending.

Conclusions:

SMP:AgNW composites are suitable for low-temperature actuation in wearable electronics.
The tunable nature and sensing capabilities make them promising for advanced human-machine interfaces.
This material design offers a pathway for developing next-generation conformable and interactive wearable devices.