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Sensing Technologies with Carbon Nanotube-Based Materials

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Sensor Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 July 2022) | Viewed by 4099

Special Issue Editor

Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064, USA
Interests: experimental stress mechanics; polymeric composite materials; carbon nanotube fibers; integrated and distributed structural health monitoring in composite materials; piezoresistive sensors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Carbon nanotubes are quasi-one-dimensional structures of rolled graphene, which is one atomic layer of graphite that is the allotrope of sp2 carbon. Carbon nanotubes have unparalleled mechanical, electrical, thermal, and optical properties due to their unique atomic structure. However, their use in engineering applications is hindered by their nanoscale dimensions. Assemblies of carbon nanotubes such as arrays or forests, fibers, ribbons, and other two- or three-dimensional structures do not preserve the exceptional properties of the nanotubes, but exhibit at least one dimension in the microscale and thus makes their use more feasible in a variety of applications. This Special Issue concentrates on new research that taps into the sensing abilities of these carbon nanotube assemblies. Among these sensing approaches are piezoresistive, piezo-impedance, thermoresistive, chemoresistive, electrochemical, magnetoresistive, piezoelectric, and others. Applications may include structural health monitoring including strain, displacement, pressure, and damage; gas or liquid flow monitoring; temperature and humidity sensing; electronics including cooling, photodetection, and data transmission; chemical and biological compounds detection, and others. Experimental or modeling works are acceptable, as are new concepts or sensor development works.

Prof. Dr. Jandro Abot
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • carbon nanotube structures
  • graphene structures
  • sensing
  • experimental
  • modeling
  • concepts
  • applications

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 43943 KiB  
Article
Easy-Scalable Flexible Sensors Made of Carbon Nanotube-Doped Polydimethylsiloxane: Analysis of Manufacturing Conditions and Proof of Concept
by Antonio del Bosque, Xoan F. Sánchez-Romate, María Sánchez and Alejandro Ureña
Sensors 2022, 22(14), 5147; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s22145147 - 08 Jul 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1538
Abstract
Carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) easy-scalable sensors for human motion monitoring are proposed. First, the analysis of the dispersion procedure of nanoparticles into the polymer matrix shows that the ultrasonication (US) technique provides a higher electrical sensitivity in comparison to three-roll milling [...] Read more.
Carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) easy-scalable sensors for human motion monitoring are proposed. First, the analysis of the dispersion procedure of nanoparticles into the polymer matrix shows that the ultrasonication (US) technique provides a higher electrical sensitivity in comparison to three-roll milling (3RM) due to the higher homogeneity of the CNT distribution induced by the cavitation forces. Furthermore, the gauge factor (GF) calculated from tensile tests decreases with increasing the CNT content, as the interparticle distance between CNTs is reduced and, thus, the contribution of the tunnelling mechanisms diminishes. Therefore, the optimum conditions were set at 0.4 CNT wt.% dispersed by US procedure, providing a GF of approximately 37 for large strains. The electrical response under cycling load was tested at 2%, 5%, and 10% strain level, indicating a high robustness of the developed sensors. Thus, this strain sensor is in a privileged position with respect to the state-of-the-art, considering all the characteristics that this type of sensor must accomplish: high GF, high flexibility, high reproducibility, easy manufacturing, and friendly operation. Finally, a proof-of-concept of human motion monitoring by placing a sensor for elbow and finger movements is carried out. The electrical resistance was found to increase, as expected, with the bending angle and it is totally recovered after stretching, indicating that there is no prevalent damage and highlighting the huge robustness and applicability of the proposed materials as wearable sensors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensing Technologies with Carbon Nanotube-Based Materials)
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14 pages, 2526 KiB  
Article
A Comparative Study of the Electrical and Electromechanical Responses of Carbon Nanotube/Polypropylene Composites in Alternating and Direct Current
by Abraham Balam, Raúl Pech-Pisté, Zarel Valdez-Nava, Fidel Gamboa, Alejandro Castillo-Atoche and Francis Avilés
Sensors 2022, 22(2), 484; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/s22020484 - 09 Jan 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1760
Abstract
The electrical and electromechanical responses of ~200 µm thick extruded nanocomposite films comprising of 4 wt.% and 5 wt.% multiwall carbon nanotubes mixed with polypropylene are investigated under an alternating current (AC) and compared to their direct current (DC) response. The AC electrical [...] Read more.
The electrical and electromechanical responses of ~200 µm thick extruded nanocomposite films comprising of 4 wt.% and 5 wt.% multiwall carbon nanotubes mixed with polypropylene are investigated under an alternating current (AC) and compared to their direct current (DC) response. The AC electrical response to frequency (f) and strain (piezoimpedance) is characterized using two configurations, namely one that promotes resistive dominance (resistive configuration) and the other that promotes the permittivity/capacitive contribution (dielectric configuration). For the resistive configuration, the frequency response indicated a resistive–capacitive (RC) behavior (negative phase angle, θ), with a significant contribution of capacitance for frequencies of 104 Hz and above, depending on the nanotube content. The piezoimpedance characterization in the resistive configuration yielded an increasing impedance modulus (|Z|) and an increasing (negative) value of θ as the strain increased. The piezoimpedance sensitivity at f = 10 kHz was ~30% higher than the corresponding DC piezoresistive sensitivity, yielding a sensitivity factor of 9.9 for |Z| and a higher sensitivity factor (~12.7) for θ. The dielectric configuration enhanced the permittivity contribution to impedance, but it was the least sensitive to strain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sensing Technologies with Carbon Nanotube-Based Materials)
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