Carbon nanoparticle reinforced adhesive films as surface sensors for strain detection

Carbon nanoparticle-reinforced adhesive films have been explored as surface sensors for the detection of small strains. It has been observed that graphene nanoplatelets, GNPs, promote a significant increase of the gauge factor when compared to carbon nanotubes, CNTs (5.6 to 0.6, respectively, at low strains), due to their intrinsic 2D nature. The application as surface sensors for the monitoring of the strain field in an aluminum plate has been proven to be successful, with a repeatable signal under consecutive cycles despite some irreversibility in the first one for GNPs. Furthermore, the electrical response given by the sensors under plastic deformation of the aluminum plate was in total agreement with the mechanical response validated by numerical analysis, proving the high potential of the proposed adhesive film for sensing purposes.