A flexible capacitive sensor based on the electrospun PVDF nanofiber membrane with carbon nanotubes

Abstract(#br)Flexible pressure sensors have been increasingly recognized over the past several decades, but there is still a challenge to fabricate them with a superb sensitivity and large sensing range. In this paper, a flexible capacitive pressure sensor based on the electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofiber membrane with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was developed to measure the pressure. The electrospinning CNT-PVDF nanofiber membrane can overcomes the limitations of the traditional solution-dip-coating for adhering conductive materials to the porous surface. The microstructure and characterization of the CNT-PVDF nanofiber membrane were analyzed by SEM, AFM and FTIR. By increasing the permittivity and decreasing the Young’s modulus of the CNT-PVDF dielectric layer, the capacitive sensor exhibits high sensitivity (∼0.99/kPa), fast response (∼29 ms) and excellent cyclic loading/unloading stability (＞1000 cycles). Moreover, experiments were also conducted to investigate influence of the thickness and bending radius of the sensor as well as temperature and humidity of the environment. In addition, a 3 × 3 sensor network attached on the hand was used to measure the spatial distribution and magnitude of tactile pressure. The proposed sensor has great potential for application in soft robotics and electronic skin

Interfacing biomimetics and nanomaterials for next generation wearables

With the steady rise in average life expectancy across the globe in the last century, lifestyle related diseases are causing a burden on existing healthcare infrastructure. Emerging complex diseases cause significant impact on productive man hours and burden the existing healthcare system. For instance, people suffering from progressive neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and Huntington’s disease must be monitored frequently to track the progress of the diseases. Due to the life altering nature of these neurodegenerative diseases, it becomes very difficult for the patients to return to their daily routine, considering the fact that a significant amount of their time is spent in hospital-based diagnostic and rehabilitation centres. Other less serious complications, like sleep apnoea, post-trauma recovery, and similar conditions also need regular progress tracking and medical intervention (if necessary) and can cause disruptions to daily life due to frequent hospital stays. Inexpensive, accurate, and power efficient wearable sensors will be playing a major role in facilitating the health 3.0 in the foreseeable future. Particularly, the onslaught of COVID-19 pandemic since late 2019 have fuelled the demand for wearable sensors capable of human physiological vitals monitoring.The need of the hour is efficient, non-invasive, wearable sensors capable of gathering vital human physiological parameters round the clock and store the data in cloud for remote access by healthcare specialists. However, for any sensor to be considered seriously in healthcare space, parameters like sensitivity, ease of use, cost effectiveness, long term reliability and most importantly, low power budget are of paramount importance. Other than applications in human physiological monitoring, flexible sensors are relevant for applications involving artificial skins for next generation prosthesis, soft human-machine interface, and robotics assisted medical facilities.Nature is full of unique designs to tackle interesting problems we encounter daily. For instance, the seamless entry of a Kingfisher from a low resistance medium (air) to a high resistance medium (water) is nothing short of an extraordinary aerodynamic design marvel. Interfacing nanotechnology with biomimetics is important in the context of next generation wearables as it can lead to the development of a class of highly reliable and inexpensive wearable sensors tailored to cater the urgent needs of physiological parameter monitoring.This thesis has been a humble effort towards creating a seamless integration between the concepts of bioinspiration and Microsystems-enabled miniaturized sensors for tackling a wide variety of problems we encounter in our daily life. Two most widely used and traditional mechanisms of sensing entailing piezoresistive and capacitive sensing were investigated and a bioinspiration approach was taken to device next generation flexible and wearable devices. A wide variety of practical problems ranging from human gait monitoring to low powered flow sensing has been tackled taking inspiration from nature

Electro-spinning/netting: A strategy for the fabrication of three-dimensional polymer nano-fiber/nets.

Since 2006, a rapid development has been achieved in a subject area, so called electro-spinning/netting (ESN), which comprises the conventional electrospinning process and a unique electro-netting process. Electro-netting overcomes the bottleneck problem of electrospinning technique and provides a versatile method for generating spider-web-like nano-nets with ultrafine fiber diameter less than 20 nm. Nano-nets, supported by the conventional electrospun nanofibers in the nano-fiber/nets (NFN) membranes, exhibit numerious attractive characteristics such as extremely small diameter, high porosity, and Steiner tree network geometry, which make NFN membranes optimal candidates for many significant applications. The progress made during the last few years in the field of ESN is highlighted in this review, with particular emphasis on results obtained in the author's research units. After a brief description of the development of the electrospinning and ESN techniques, several fundamental properties of NFN nanomaterials are addressed. Subsequently, the used polymers and the state-of-the-art strategies for the controllable fabrication of NFN membranes are highlighted in terms of the ESN process. Additionally, we highlight some potential applications associated with the remarkable features of NFN nanostructure. Our discussion is concluded with some personal perspectives on the future development in which this wonderful technique could be pursued

Recent Advances in Applications of Ceramic Nanofibers

Ceramic materials are well known for their hardness, inertness, superior mechanical and thermal properties, resistance against chemical erosion and corrosion. Ceramic nanofibers were first manufactured through a combination of electrospinning with sol–gel method in 2002. The electrospun ceramic nanofibers display unprecedented properties such as high surface area, length, thermo-mechanical properties, and hierarchically porous structure which make them candidates for a wide range of applications such as tissue engineering, sensors, water remediation, energy storage, electromagnetic shielding, thermal insulation materials, etc. This chapter focuses on the most recent advances in the applications of ceramic nanofibers

Functional applications of electrospun nanofibers

With the rapid development of nanoscience and nanotechnology over the last two decades, great progress has been made not only in preparation and characterization of nanomaterials, but also in their functional applications. As an important one-dimensional nanomaterial, nanofibers have extremely high specific surface area because of their small diameters, and nanofiber membranes are highly porous with excellent pore interconnectivity. These unique characteristics plus the functionalities from the polymers themselves impart nanofibers with many desirable properties for advanced applications

The Potential of Electrospinning to Enable the Realization of Energy-Autonomous Wearable Sensing Systems

The market for wearable electronic devices is experiencing significant growth and increasing potential for the future. Researchers worldwide are actively working to improve these devices, particularly in developing wearable electronics with balanced functionality and wearability for commercialization. Electrospinning, a technology that creates nano/microfiber-based membranes with high surface area, porosity, and favorable mechanical properties for human in vitro and in vivo applications using a broad range of materials, is proving to be a promising approach. Wearable electronic devices can use mechanical, thermal, evaporative and solar energy harvesting technologies to generate power for future energy needs, providing more options than traditional sources. This review offers a comprehensive analysis of how electrospinning technology can be used in energy-autonomous wearable wireless sensing systems. It provides an overview of the electrospinning technology, fundamental mechanisms, and applications in energy scavenging, human physiological signal sensing, energy storage, and antenna for data transmission. The review discusses combining wearable electronic technology and textile engineering to create superior wearable devices and increase future collaboration opportunities. Additionally, the challenges related to conducting appropriate testing for market-ready products using these devices are also discussed

Electroactive poly(vinylidene fluoride) based materials: recent progress, challenges and opportunities

A poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and its copolymers are polymers that, in specific crystalline phases, show high dielectric and piezoelectric values, excellent mechanical behavior and good thermal and chemical stability, suitable for many applications from the biomedical area to energy devices. This chapter introduces the main properties, processability and polymorphism of PVDF. Further, the recent advances in the applications based on those materials are presented and discussed. Thus, it shown the key role of PVDF and its copolymers as smart and multifunctional material, expanding the limits of polymer-based technologies.FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) for financial support under the framework of Strategic Funding grants UID/FIS/04650/2019, and UID/QUI/0686/2019 and project PTDC/FIS-MAC/28157/2017, PTDC/BTMMAT/28237/2017, PTDC/EMD-EMD/28159/2017. The author also thanks the FCT for financial support under grant SFRH/BPD/112547/2015 (C.M.C.), SFRH/BPD/98109/2013 (V.F.C.), SFRH/BD/140698/2018 (R.B.P.), SFRH/BPD/96227/2013 (P.M.), SFRH/BPD/121526/2016 (D.M.C.), SFRH/BPD/97739/2013 (V. C.), SFRH/BPD/90870/2012 (C.R.). Financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through project MAT2016-76039-C4-3-R (AEI/FEDER, UE) (including FEDER financial support) and from the Basque Government Industry and Education Departments under the ELKARTEK, HAZITEK and PIBA (PIBA-2018-06)