Paul, Sharon J. and Sharma, Indu and Elizabeth, Indu and Gahtori, Bhaskar and Manikandan, R. M. and Titus, S. Seelakumar and Chandra, Prakash and Gupta, Bipin Kumar (2020) A Comparative Study of Compressible and Conductive Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube Forest in Different Polymer Matrixes for High-Performance Piezoresistive Force Sensors. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 12 (14). pp. 16946-16958. ISSN 1944-8244

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Abstract

In the present scenario, conducting and lightweight flexible polymer nanocomposites rival metallic and inorganic semiconducting materials as highly sensitive piezoresistive force sensors. Herein, we explore the feasibility of vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) nanocomposites impregnated in different polymer matrixes, envisioned as highly efficient piezoresistors in sensor applications. Polymer nanocomposites are selectively designed and fabricated using three different polymer matrixes, i.e., polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polyurethane (PU), and epoxy resins with ideal reinforcement of VACNTs to enhance the thermal stability, conductivity, compressibility, piezoresistivity, and sensitivity of these nanocomposites. To predict the best piezoresistive force sensor, we evaluated the structural, optical, thermal, electrical, mechanical, and piezoresistive properties of the nanocomposites using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), I-V measurements, compressive stress-strain measurements, hysteresis, sensitivity, and force studies. The results demonstrate that the PDMS/VACNT nanocomposite is capable of sustaining large force with almost complete recovery and enhanced sensitivity, thereby fulfilling the desirable need for a highly efficient conductive and flexible force sensor as compared to PU/VACNT and epoxy/VACNT nanocomposites.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Copyright for this article belongs to M/s American Chemical Society.
Subjects:	Multidisciplinary Materials Science Nanoscience/ Nanotechnology Nuclear Science Technology
Divisions:	UNSPECIFIED
Depositing User:	Mr. Yogesh Joshi
Date Deposited:	09 Nov 2021 11:27
Last Modified:	09 Nov 2021 11:27
URI:	http://npl.csircentral.net/id/eprint/4548

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