High-performance fiber strain sensor of carbon nanotube/thermoplastic polyurethane@styrene butadiene styrene with a double percolated structure

In this work,a high-performance fiber strain sensor is fabricated by constructing a double percolated structure,consisting of carbon nanotube(CNT)/thermoplastic polyurethane(TPU)continuous phase and styrene butadiene styrene(SBS)phase,incompatible with TPU(CNT/TPU@SBS).Compared with other similar fiber strain sensor systems without double percolated structure,the CNT/TPU@SBS sensor achieves a lower percolation threshold(0.38 wt.%)and higher electrical conductivity.The conductivity of 1%-CNT/TPU@SBS(4.12×10^(-3) S·m^(-1))is two orders of magnitude higher than that of 1%-CNT/TPU(3.17×10^(-5) S·m^(-1))at the same CNT loading of 1 wt.%.Due to double percolated structure,the 1%-CNT/TPU@SBS sensor exhibits a wide strain detection range(0.2%-100%)and an ultra-high sensitivity(maximum gauge factor(GF)is 32411 at 100%strain).Besides,the 1%-CNT/TPU@SBS sensor shows a high linearity(R^(2)=0.97)at 0%-20%strain,relatively fast response time(214 ms),and stability(500 loading/unloading cycles).The designed sensor can efficiently monitor physiological signals and movements and identify load distribution after being woven into a sensor array,showing broad application prospects in wearable electronics.

Manufacturable Novel Nanogrease with Superb Physical Properties

High-performance nanogrease manufactured from carbon nanomaterials is observed to be stable and homogeneous and have superb physical properties,such as thermal and electrical conductivities,compared with current commercial greases made of lithium,calcium,and aluminum.For the first time,carbon nanomaterials have been observed to disperse well as the sole thickeners in oil systems,e.g.,polyalphaolefin and polyester(ROYCO),without the aid of any chemical surfactants.Three-dimensional percolation network structures that exist among carbon nanomaterials are easily scalable,which can be attributed to the intermolecular van der Waals forces.Moreover,the introduction of hydrogen bonding in any form to grease significantly increases its thermal and electrical conductivities and substantially reduces the weight percentage of carbon nanomaterials needed to fabricate stable grease.For example,loading of only 1.4 wt%hydroxyl-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube(MWNT-OH)with Krytox XHT750 oil leads to a 37.8%increase in thermal conductivity.Moreover,75%glycerol,25% water,and 4.5 wt% MWNT-OH yielded the lowest electrical resistivity of 10.0 Ω cm.This finding can be extended to hydrogen bonding materials with functional groups,such as OH,COOH,F,and NH.The nanogrease reported in this study has been manufactured using the three-roll mill method,which is an easy and cost-effective method,as the loading weight percentage of carbon nanomaterials to fabricate stable grease decreases from 12 wt% to 3-4 wt%.Furthermore,the process is easily scalable,reproduced,and optimized.This novel high-performance nanogrease has a high commercial value and numerous applications and could replace current commercial greases.