Strain Sensors with a High Sensitivity and a Wide Sensing Range Based on a Ti3C2Tx (MXene) Nanoparticle–Nanosheet Hybrid Network

By Yina Yang, Liangjing Shi, Zherui Cao, Ranran Wang, Jing Sun. Advanced Functional Materials, 2019

243 citations recorded by the source corpus.

A high sensitivity and large stretchability are desirable for strain sensors in wearable applications. However, these two performance indicators are contradictory, since the former requires a conspicuous structural change under a tiny strain, whereas the latter demands morphological integrity upon a large deformation. Developing strain sensors with both a high sensitivity (gauge factor (GF) > 100) and a broad strain range (>50%) is a considerable challenge. Herein, a unique Ti3C2Tx MXene nanoparticle–nanosheet hybrid network is constructed. The migration of nanoparticles leads to a large resistance variation while the wrapping of nanosheet bridges the detached nanoparticles to maintain the connectivity of the conductive pathways in a large strain region. The synergetic motion of nanoparticles and nanosheets endows the hybrid network with splendid electrical–mechanical performance, which is reflected in its high sensitivity (GF > 178.4) over the entire broad range (53%), the super low detection limit (0.025%), and a good cycling durability (over 5000 cycles). Such high performance endows the strain sensor with the capability for full‐range human motion detection.

Subfields: Biomedical Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Materials Chemistry

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/2083f71426b608f5211db4c45c3fbe5f5e48f8e5