Highly Stretchable and Wearable Graphene Strain Sensors with Controllable Sensitivity for Human Motion Monitoring

Because of their outstanding electrical and mechanical properties, graphene strain sensors have attracted extensive attention for electronic applications in virtual reality, robotics, medical diagnostics, and healthcare. Although several strain sensors based on graphene have been reported, the stretchability and sensitivity of these sensors remain limited, and also there is a pressing need to develop a practical fabrication process. This paper reports the fabrication and characterization of new types of graphene strain sensors based on stretchable yarns. Highly stretchable, sensitive, and wearable sensors are realized by a layer-by-layer assembly method that is simple, low-cost, scalable, and solution-processable. Because of the yarn structures, these sensors exhibit high stretchability (up to 150%) and versatility, and can detect both large- and small-scale human motions. For this study, wearable electronics are fabricated with implanted sensors that can monitor diverse human motions, including joint movement, phonation, swallowing, and breathing

Highly Stretchable and Wearable Graphene Strain Sensors with Controllable Sensitivity for Human Motion Monitoring

Because of their outstanding electrical and mechanical properties, graphene strain sensors have attracted extensive attention for electronic applications in virtual reality, robotics, medical diagnostics, and healthcare. Although several strain sensors based on graphene have been reported, the stretchability and sensitivity of these sensors remain limited, and also there is a pressing need to develop a practical fabrication process. This paper reports the fabrication and characterization of new types of graphene strain sensors based on stretchable yarns. Highly stretchable, sensitive, and wearable sensors are realized by a layer-by-layer assembly method that is simple, low-cost, scalable, and solution-processable. Because of the yarn structures, these sensors exhibit high stretchability (up to 150%) and versatility, and can detect both large- and small-scale human motions. For this study, wearable electronics are fabricated with implanted sensors that can monitor diverse human motions, including joint movement, phonation, swallowing, and breathing

AFM Probing of Polymer/Nanofiller Interfacial Adhesion and Its Correlation with Bulk Mechanical Properties in a Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Nanocomposite

The interfacial adhesion between polymer and nanofiller plays an important role in affecting the properties of nanocomposites. The detailed relationship between interfacial adhesion and bulk properties, however, is unclear. In this work, we developed an atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based abrasive scanning methodology, as applied to model laminate systems, to probe the strength of interfacial adhesion relevant to poly­(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/graphene or clay nanocomposites. Graphite and mica substrates covered with ∼2 nm thick PET films were abrasively sheared by an AFM tip as a model measurement of interfacial strength between matrix PET and dispersed graphene and clay, respectively. During several abrasive raster-scan cycles, PET was shear-displaced from the scanned region. At temperatures below the PET glass transition, PET on graphite exhibited abrupt delamination (i.e., full adhesive failure), whereas PET on mica did not; rather, it exhibited a degree of cohesive failure within the shear-displaced layer. Moreover, 100-fold higher force scanning procedures were required to abrade through an ultimate “precursor” layer of PET only ∼0.2−0.5 nm thick, which must be largely disentangled from the matrix polymer. Thus, the adhesive interface of relevance to the strength of clay–filler nanocomposites is between matrix polymer and strongly bound polymer. At 90 °C, above the bulk PET glass transition temperature, the PET film exhibited cohesive failure on both graphite and mica. Our results suggest that there is little difference in the strength of the relevant interfacial adhesion in the two nanocomposites within the rubbery dynamic regime. Further, the bulk mechanical properties of melt mixed PET/graphene and PET/clay nanocomposites were evaluated by dynamic mechanical analysis. The glassy dynamic storage modulus of the PET/clay nanocomposite was higher than that of PET/graphene, correlating with the differences in interfacial adhesion probed by AFM

Polyol-Assisted Vermiculite Dispersion in Polyurethane Nanocomposites

The largest use of polyurethane (PU) is as closed cell rigid foams for thermal insulation. One problem is loss of blowing gases, which leads to slow increase in thermal conductivity. PU composites with plate-like nanofillers create a diffusion barrier, reducing gas transport and slowing insulation aging. In this research, a new in situ intercalative polymerization is described to disperse vermiculite (VMT) in PU. When VMT was modified by cation exchange with long-chain quaternary ammonium, the dispersion in methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) was significantly improved. Dispersion of clay in MDI was further improved by combining high intensity dispersive mixing with a polyol-clay preblend (master-batch). The VMT dispersibility was characterized using rheology, microscopy, and X-ray scattering/diffraction. With the method of polyol-assisted VMT dispersion, electron microscopy revealed extensive intercalation and exfoliation of clay particles. In contrast, simple mixing of organoclay in MDI resulted in macroscopic localization and poor distribution of clay particles in PU. The final nanocomposites prepared by the master-batch method showed enhancement of mechanical properties (85% increase in elastic modulus) and reduction in permeability to CO₂, as much as 40%, at a low clay concentration of 3.3 wt %

Plasmonic–Photonic Interference Coupling in Submicrometer Amorphous TiO₂–Ag Nanoarchitectures

In this study, we report the crystallinity effects of submicrometer titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanotube (TNT) incorporated with silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensitivity. Furthermore, we demonstrate the SERS behaviors dependent on the plasmonic–photonic interference coupling (P-PIC) in the TNT-AgNP nanoarchitectures. Amorphous TNTs (A-TNTs) are synthesized through a two-step anodization on titanium (Ti) substrate, and crystalline TNTs (C-TNTs) are then prepared by using thermal annealing process at 500 °C in air. After thermally evaporating 20 nm thick Ag on TNTs, we investigate SERS signals according to the crystallinity and P-PIC on our TNT-AgNP nanostructures. (A-TNTs)-AgNP substrates show dramatically enhanced SERS performance as compared to (C-TNTs)-AgNP substrates. We attribute the high enhancement on (A-TNTs)-AgNP substrates with electron confinement at the interface between A-TNTs and AgNPs as due to the high interfacial barrier resistance caused by band edge positions. Moreover, the TNT length variation in (A-TNTs)-AgNP nanostructures results in different constructive or destructive interference patterns, which in turn affects the P-PIC. Finally, we could understand the significant dependency of SERS intensity on P-PIC in (A-TNTs)-AgNP nanostructures. Our results thus might provide a suitable design for a myriad of applications of enhanced EM on plasmonic-integrated devices