Tactile microsensor elements prepared from arrayed superelastic carbon microcoils

Abstract

Superelastic carbon microcoils (SCMCs) with high elasticity and coiling chirality were prepared by the Ni-catalyzed pyrolysis of acetylene, and novel tactile microsensor elements using the SCMCs as the sensor material were prepared. The sensor elements with a very small size of 80×80×80μm3 showed a very high sensitivity of 0.3mgf (1Pa). It was found that the SCMC arraying in the matrix and the placement method on the electrodes dramatically affected the sensing properties.

Grafting of Polymers onto Carbon Microcoil by Use of Carboxyl Groups on the Surface and Electric Properties of Conductive Composite Prepared from Silicone Rubber with the Polymer-Grafted Carbon Microcoil

“…Introduction of Carboxyl Groups onto CMC Surface by the Treatment with HNO 3 CMC scarcely has carboxyl groups on the surface. It is well known that carboxyl groups can be introduced onto carbon materials, such as carbon black, carbon fiber, vapor grown carbon fiber, and carbon nanotube.…”

“…The coil diameter, fiber diameter, and fiber length of the CMC are 1-3 mm, 0.1 mm, and 90-150 mm, respectively. The bulk density of CMC is 1.72 g/cm 3 . The CMC was used without further purification.…”

“…[6][7][8][9][10][11][12] For example, we have pointed out that carboxyl groups on carbon materials have an ability to initiate the cationic polymerization of N-vinylcarbazole and isobutyl vinyl ether to give the corresponding polymer-grafted carbon materials. 11,13,14 On the other hand, the grafting of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) was successfully grafted onto carbon black surface by the reaction with carboxyl groups with hydroxyl groups of PEG in the presence of N,N 0 -dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) as a condensing agent 15 or Sc(OTf) 3 as Lewis acid catalyst. 16 In the previous paper, we have reported the grafting of polymers by ligand-exchange reaction of ferrocene moieties of polymers with polycondensed aromatic rings of carbon fiber, 17 carbon nanofibers, 18 and CMC.…”

“…3 It has been reported that parameters of inductance L, capacitance C, and resistance R of the bulk CMC increased with their extension and decreased with their contraction. It was found that the arraying of the CMC in the silicone rubber matrix resulted in a significant increase in the tactile sensitivity.…”

“…It was found that the arraying of the CMC in the silicone rubber matrix resulted in a significant increase in the tactile sensitivity. [3][4][5] However, it is difficult to disperse CMC in various solvents and polymer matrices uniformly because of the unique morphology. We have pointed out that the grafting of polymers onto the surface is effective method for the destruction of aggregation of nanoparticles and entanglement of nanofibers.…”