Enhanced performance of 3D printed highly elastic strain sensors of carbon nanotube/thermoplastic polyurethane nanocomposites via non-covalent interactions

Xiang, Dong; Zhang, Xuezhong; Li, Yuntao; Harkin‐Jones, Eileen; Zheng, Yongfeng; Wang, Lei; Zhao, Chunxia; Wang, Ping

doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2019.107250

Cited by 171 publications

(123 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Finally, very recently, numerous authors investigated the possibility to prepare conductive elements made with polymer nanocomposites via dry printing [58,59], inkjet printing [60,61] or 3D printing [62][63][64][65]. However, while such systems require new processing instruments, in some cases very expensive, polymer extrusion is easier and can keep low the costs of the produced parts, resulting to be useful for large scale applications such as building and construction sector.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparation and Characterization of Polypropylene/Carbon Nanotubes (PP/CNTs) Nanocomposites as Potential Strain Gauges for Structural Health Monitoring

et al. 2020

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Polypropylene/carbon nanotubes (PP/CNTs) nanocomposites with different CNTs concentrations (i.e., 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 wt%) were prepared and tested as strain gauges for structures monitoring. Such sensors were embedded in cementitious mortar prisms and tested in 3-point bending mode recording impedance variation at increasing load. First, thermal (differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA)), mechanical (tensile tests) and morphological (FE-SEM) properties of nanocomposites blends were assessed. Then, strain-sensing tests were carried out on PP/CNTs strips embedded in cementitious mortars. PP/CNTs nanocomposites blends with CNTs content of 1, 2 and 3 wt% did not show significant results because these concentrations are below the electrical percolation threshold (EPT). On the contrary, PP/CNTs nanocomposites with 5 and 7 wt% of CNTs showed interesting sensing properties. In particular, the best result was highlighted for the PP/CNT nanocomposite with 5 wt% CNTs for which an average gauge factor (GF) of approx. 1400 was measured. Moreover, load-unload cycles reported a good recovery of the initial impedance. Finally, a comparison with some literature results, in terms of GF, was done demonstrating the benefits deriving from the use of PP/CNTs strips as strain-gauges instead of using conductive fillers in the bulk matrix.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparation and Characterization of Polypropylene/Carbon Nanotubes (PP/CNTs) Nanocomposites as Potential Strain Gauges for Structural Health Monitoring

et al. 2020

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“…The most common commercial filaments employed in FFF are poly(acrylonitrile‐co‐butadiene‐co‐styrene) (ABS), poly(lactic acid) (PLA), polyamide and glycol‐modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG) 1–4 . Recent advances in this technology have also allowed to use high‐performance materials with functional properties 5–10 . In this framework, the development of electrically conductive polymer composites (ECPCs) filaments are an important example for the manufacturing of multi‐functional components using FFF technique.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[1][2][3][4] Recent advances in this technology have also allowed to use highperformance materials with functional properties. [5][6][7][8][9][10] In this framework, the development of electrically conductive polymer composites (ECPCs) filaments are an important example for the manufacturing of multi-functional components using FFF technique. The addition of carbonaceous nanofillers in materials for additive manufacturing has been recently explored.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Poly(vinylidene fluoride)/thermoplastic polyurethane flexible and 3D printable conductive composites

Bertolini

Dul

Barra

et al. 2020

J of Applied Polymer Sci

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This work focus on the development of polymeric blends to produce multifunctional materials for 3D printing with enhanced electrical and mechanical properties. In this context, flexible and highly conductive materials comprising poly(vinylidene fluoride)/thermoplastic polyurethane (PVDF/TPU) filled with carbon black‐polypyrrole (CB‐PPy) were prepared by compression molding, filament extrusion and fused filament fabrication. In order to achieve an optimal compromise between electrical conductivity, mechanical properties and printability, blends composition was optimized and different CB‐PPy content were added. Overall, the electrical conductivities of PVDF/TPU 50/50 vol% co‐continuous blend were higher than those found for PVDF/TPU 50/50 wt% (i.e., 38/62 vol%) composites at same filler content. PVDF/TPU/CB‐PPy 3D printed samples with 6.77 vol% filler fraction presented electrical conductivity of 4.14 S m−1 and elastic modulus, elongation at break and maximum tensile stress of 0.43 GPa, 10.3% and 10.0 MPa, respectively. These results highlight that PVDF/TPU/CB‐PPy composites are promising materials for technological applications.

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“…Using Bridgman model, a method to identify piezoresistive coefficients of sensors manufactured via FFF was successfully developed [30]. Two features which affect the sensing elements (generally, strain sensors) manufactured via FFF technology, with both commercial conductive filaments [31] and customized filaments created in situ [32][33][34], are (i) the high electrical resistance value of 3D-printed sensing elements (in [35], a novel method based on flash lamp ablation to reduce it, is presented) and (ii) the difficulties in manufacturing more identical sensing elements with the same, or somewhat comparable, electrical resistance values. In this study, working on 3D-printed strain gauges, the most common and widely used strain sensor, printing and design parameters have been investigated in order to find a parameter combination which allows the final electrical resistance to be minimized and the variability among identical strain gauges in terms of the electrical resistance to be reduced.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fused filament fabrication of commercial conductive filaments: experimental study on the process parameters aimed at the minimization, repeatability and thermal characterization of electrical resistance

Stano

Nisio

Lanzolla

et al. 2020

Int J Adv Manuf Technol

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Nowadays, a challenging scenario involving additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, relates to concerns on the manufacturing of electronic devices. In particular, the possibility of using fused filament fabrication (FFF) technology, which is well known for being very widespread and inexpensive, to fabricate structures with embedded sensing elements, is really appealing. Several researchers in this field have highlighted the high electrical resistance values and variability in 3D-printed strain sensors made via FFF. It is important to find a way to minimize the electrical resistance and variability among strain sensors printed under the same conditions for several reasons, such as reducing the measurement noise and better balancing four 3D-printed strain gauges connected to form a Wheatstone bridge to obtain better measurements. In this study, a design of experiment (DoE) on 3D-printed strain gauges, studying the relevance of printing and design parameters, was performed. Three different commercial conductive materials were analyzed, including a total of 105 printed samples. The output of this study is a combination of parameters which allow both the electrical resistance and variability to be minimized; in particular, it was discovered that the “welding effect” due to the layer height and printing orientation is responsible for high values of resistance and variability. After the optimization of printing and design parameters, further experiments were performed to characterize the sensitivity of each specimen to mechanical and thermal stresses, highlighting an interesting aspect. A sensible variation of the electrical resistance at room temperature was observed, even if no stress was applied to the specimen, suggesting the potential of exploiting these materials for the 3D printing of highly sensitive temperature sensors.

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Enhanced performance of 3D printed highly elastic strain sensors of carbon nanotube/thermoplastic polyurethane nanocomposites via non-covalent interactions

Cited by 171 publications

References 35 publications

Preparation and Characterization of Polypropylene/Carbon Nanotubes (PP/CNTs) Nanocomposites as Potential Strain Gauges for Structural Health Monitoring

Preparation and Characterization of Polypropylene/Carbon Nanotubes (PP/CNTs) Nanocomposites as Potential Strain Gauges for Structural Health Monitoring

Poly(vinylidene fluoride)/thermoplastic polyurethane flexible and 3D printable conductive composites

Fused filament fabrication of commercial conductive filaments: experimental study on the process parameters aimed at the minimization, repeatability and thermal characterization of electrical resistance

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