Patterned Metal/Polymer Strain Sensor with Good Flexibility, Mechanical Stability and Repeatability for Human Motion Detection

Zheng, Xu; Wang, Qing; Luan, Jinjin; Li, Yao; Wang, Ning

doi:10.3390/mi10070472

Open AccessArticle

Patterned Metal/Polymer Strain Sensor with Good Flexibility, Mechanical Stability and Repeatability for Human Motion Detection

by

Xu Zheng

,

Qing Wang

^*

,

Jinjin Luan

,

Yao Li

and

Ning Wang

Institue of NanoEngineering, College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, Shandong, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Micromachines 2019, 10(7), 472; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi10070472

Submission received: 14 June 2019 / Revised: 4 July 2019 / Accepted: 12 July 2019 / Published: 15 July 2019

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Printable and Flexible Electronics for Sensors)

Download

Browse Figures

Versions Notes

Abstract

Wearable health monitoring smart systems based on flexible metal films are considered to be the next generation of devices for remote medical practice. However, cracks on the metallic surface of the films and difficulty in repeatability are the key issues that restrict the application of such wearable strain sensors. In this work, a flexible wearable strain sensor with high sensitivity and good repeatability was fabricated based on a patterned metal/polymer composite material fabricated through nanoimprint lithography. The mechanical properties were measured through cyclic tension and bending loading. The sensor exhibited a small ΔR/R₀ error line for multiple test pieces, indicating the good mechanical stability and repeatability of the fabricated device. Moreover, the sensor possesses high sensitivity with gauge factors of 10 for strain less than 50% and 40 for strain from 50% to 70%. Various activities were successfully detected in real-time, such as swallowing, closing/opening of the mouth, and multi-angle bending of elbow, which illustrates the proposed sensor’s potential as a wearable device for the human body.

Keywords: patterned strain sensor; mechanical property; repeatability; flexible electronics; human motion detection

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Zheng, X.; Wang, Q.; Luan, J.; Li, Y.; Wang, N. Patterned Metal/Polymer Strain Sensor with Good Flexibility, Mechanical Stability and Repeatability for Human Motion Detection. Micromachines 2019, 10, 472. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi10070472

AMA Style

Zheng X, Wang Q, Luan J, Li Y, Wang N. Patterned Metal/Polymer Strain Sensor with Good Flexibility, Mechanical Stability and Repeatability for Human Motion Detection. Micromachines. 2019; 10(7):472. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi10070472

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zheng, Xu, Qing Wang, Jinjin Luan, Yao Li, and Ning Wang. 2019. "Patterned Metal/Polymer Strain Sensor with Good Flexibility, Mechanical Stability and Repeatability for Human Motion Detection" Micromachines 10, no. 7: 472. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi10070472

APA Style

Zheng, X., Wang, Q., Luan, J., Li, Y., & Wang, N. (2019). Patterned Metal/Polymer Strain Sensor with Good Flexibility, Mechanical Stability and Repeatability for Human Motion Detection. Micromachines, 10(7), 472. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi10070472

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

Patterned Metal/Polymer Strain Sensor with Good Flexibility, Mechanical Stability and Repeatability for Human Motion Detection

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI