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Soft Composite-Based Sensors
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Soft Composite-Based Sensors

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Electronic Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2022) | Viewed by 20276

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Sung Hoon Kang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
Interests: soft functional materials; bioinspired materials; architected materials
Dr. Zhiyong Xia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Interests: soft robotics; elastomers; hydrogels; bioinspired and biomimetics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue invites the submission of both original research articles and reviews related to soft materials/composites for sensing and detection applications. Soft materials/composites are attractive for various sensing applications due to a number of advantages, including tunability, sensitivity, stretchability/flexibility, ease of fabrication, various form factors, and low cost, to name a few. These mateials can be tuned to sense various stimuli, including pressure, mechanical strain, temperature, accoustic wave, and humidity. Moreover, recent developments in advanced fabrication approaches, including 3D printing and having arrays of sensors, have opened up new opportunities for detecting the direction of the signal so that we can identify the source of the signal. This Special Issue is open to contributions ranging from novel material synthesis, device design, fabrications, testing, and evaluation, as well as innovative applications of sensors, including but not limited to health or environmental monitoring, soft robotics, and multifunctional sensors.

Sung Hoon Kang
Zhiyong Xia
Guest Editors

Keywords

  • soft pressure sensor
  • soft strain sensor
  • soft temperature sensor
  • soft tactile sensor
  • soft acoustic wave sensor
  • soft architected tensor
  • soft functional composites
  • bioinspired sensors

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 26693 KiB  
Article
Soft CNT-Polymer Composites for High Pressure Sensors
by Adebayo Eisape, Valerie Rennoll, Tessa Van Volkenburg, Zhiyong Xia, James E. West and Sung Hoon Kang
Sensors 2022, 22(14), 5268; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22145268 - 14 Jul 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2577
Abstract
Carbon–polymer composite-based pressure sensors have many attractive features, including low cost, easy integration, and facile fabrication. Previous studies on carbon–polymer composite sensors focused on very high sensitivities for low pressure ranges (10 s of kPa), which saturate quickly at higher pressures and thus [...] Read more.
Carbon–polymer composite-based pressure sensors have many attractive features, including low cost, easy integration, and facile fabrication. Previous studies on carbon–polymer composite sensors focused on very high sensitivities for low pressure ranges (10 s of kPa), which saturate quickly at higher pressures and thus are ill-suited to measure the high pressure ranges found in various applications, including those in underwater (>1 atm, 101 kPa) and industrial environments. Current sensors designed for high pressure environments are often difficult to fabricate, expensive, and, similarly to their low-pressure counterparts, have a narrow sensing range. To address these issues, this work reports the design, synthesis, characterization, and analysis of high-pressure TPU-MWCNT based composite sensors, which detect pressures from 0.5 MPa (4.9 atm) to over 10 MPa (98.7 atm). In this study, the typical approach to improve sensitivity by increasing conductive additive concentration was found to decrease sensor performance at elevated pressures. It is shown that a better approach to elevated pressure sensitivity is to increase sensor response range by decreasing the MWCNT weight percentage, which improves sensing range and resolution. Such sensors can be useful for measuring high pressures in many industrial (e.g., manipulator feedback), automotive (e.g., damping elements, bushings), and underwater (e.g., depth sensors) applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soft Composite-Based Sensors)
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20 pages, 5142 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Physiological Incubation on the Properties of Elastic Magnetic Composites for Soft Biomedical Sensors
by Joanna Mystkowska, Anna Powojska, Dawid Łysik, Joanna Niewęgłowska, Gilbert Santiago Cañón Bermúdez, Arkadiusz Mystkowski and Denys Makarov
Sensors 2021, 21(21), 7122; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21217122 - 27 Oct 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2964
Abstract
Magnetic micro- and nanoparticles (MPs)-based composite materials are widely used in various applications in electronics, biotechnology, and medicine. This group of silicone composites have advantageous magnetic and mechanical properties as well as sufficient flexibility and biocompatibility. These composites can be applied in medicine [...] Read more.
Magnetic micro- and nanoparticles (MPs)-based composite materials are widely used in various applications in electronics, biotechnology, and medicine. This group of silicone composites have advantageous magnetic and mechanical properties as well as sufficient flexibility and biocompatibility. These composites can be applied in medicine for biological sensing, drug delivery, tissue engineering, and as remote-controlled microrobots operating in vivo. In this work, the properties of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based composites with different percentages (30 wt.%, 50 wt.%, 70 wt.%) of NdFeB microparticles as a filler were characterized. The novelty of the work was to determine the influence of the percentage of MP content and physiological conditioning on the properties of the PDMS-MP composites after in vitro incubation. An important essence of the work was a comprehensive study of the properties of materials important from the point of view of medical applications. Materials were tested before and after conditioning in 0.9 wt.% NaCl solution at a temperature of 37 °C. Several studies were carried out, including thermal, physicochemical, and rheological tests. The results show that with an increase of the incubation time, most of the measured thermal and physicochemical parameters decreased. The presence of the magnetic filler, especially at a concentration of 70 wt.%, has a positive effect on thermal stability and physicochemical and rheological properties. The performed tests provided important results, which can lead to further research for a broader application of magnetic composites in the biomedical field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soft Composite-Based Sensors)
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9 pages, 3550 KiB  
Communication
Fabrication of Piezo-Resistance Composites Containing Thermoplastic Polyurethane/Hybrid Filler Using 3D Printing
by Kyoungho Song, Hansol Son, Suwon Park, Jonghan Lee, Jungsik Jang, Mijung Lee and Hyun-joo Choi
Sensors 2021, 21(20), 6813; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21206813 - 13 Oct 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2344
Abstract
In this study, 3D-printable flexible piezoresistive composites containing various amounts of cilia-like hybrid fillers were developed. In the hybrid fillers, micro-scale Cu particles with a 0D structure may allow them to easily disperse into the flexible TPU matrix. Furthermore, nanoscale multi-walled carbon nanotubes [...] Read more.
In this study, 3D-printable flexible piezoresistive composites containing various amounts of cilia-like hybrid fillers were developed. In the hybrid fillers, micro-scale Cu particles with a 0D structure may allow them to easily disperse into the flexible TPU matrix. Furthermore, nanoscale multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with a high aspect ratio, present on the surface of the Cu particles, form an electrical network when the polymer matrix is strained, thus providing good piezoresistive performance as well as good flowability of the composite materials. With an optimal hybrid filler content (17.5 vol.%), the 3D-printed piezoresistive composite exhibits a gauge factor of 6.04, strain range of over 20%, and durability of over 100 cycles. These results highlight the potential applications of piezoresistive pressure sensors for health monitoring, touch sensors, and electronic skin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soft Composite-Based Sensors)
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19 pages, 5590 KiB  
Article
Sensitivities of Rheological Properties of Magnetoactive Foam for Soft Sensor Technology
by Rizuan Norhaniza, Saiful Amri Mazlan, Ubaidillah Ubaidillah, Michal Sedlacik, Siti Aishah Abdul Aziz, Nurhazimah Nazmi, Koji Homma and Shuib Rambat
Sensors 2021, 21(5), 1660; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21051660 - 28 Feb 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2603
Abstract
Magnetoactive (MA) foam, with its tunable mechanical properties and magnetostriction, has the potential to be used for the development of soft sensor technology. However, researchers have found that its mechanical properties and magnetostriction are morphologically dependent, thereby limiting its capabilities for dexterous manipulation. [...] Read more.
Magnetoactive (MA) foam, with its tunable mechanical properties and magnetostriction, has the potential to be used for the development of soft sensor technology. However, researchers have found that its mechanical properties and magnetostriction are morphologically dependent, thereby limiting its capabilities for dexterous manipulation. Thus, in this work, MA foam was developed with additional capabilities for controlling its magnetostriction, normal force, storage modulus, shear stress and torque by manipulating the concentration of carbonyl iron particles (CIPs) and the magnetic field with regard to morphological changes. MA foams were prepared with three weight percentages of CIPs, namely, 35 wt.%, 55 wt.% and 75 wt.%, and three different modes, namely, zero shear, constant shear and various shears. The results showed that the MA foam with 75 wt.% of CIPs enhanced the normal force sensitivity and positive magnetostriction sensitivity by up to 97% and 85%, respectively. Moreover, the sensitivities of the storage modulus, torque and shear stress were 8.97 Pa/mT, 0.021 µN/mT, and 0.0096 Pa/mT, respectively. Meanwhile, the magnetic dipolar interaction between the CIPs was capable of changing the property of MA foam from a positive to a negative magnetostriction under various shear strains with a low loss of energy. Therefore, it is believed that this kind of highly sensitive MA foam can potentially be implemented in future soft sensor systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soft Composite-Based Sensors)
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Review

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30 pages, 5972 KiB  
Review
Materials, Preparation Strategies, and Wearable Sensor Applications of Conductive Fibers: A Review
by Xiuhong Li, Shuang Chen, Yujie Peng, Zhong Zheng, Jing Li and Fei Zhong
Sensors 2022, 22(8), 3028; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22083028 - 15 Apr 2022
Cited by 40 | Viewed by 8883
Abstract
The recent advances in wearable sensors and intelligent human–machine interfaces have sparked a great many interests in conductive fibers owing to their high conductivity, light weight, good flexibility, and durability. As one of the most impressive materials for wearable sensors, conductive fibers can [...] Read more.
The recent advances in wearable sensors and intelligent human–machine interfaces have sparked a great many interests in conductive fibers owing to their high conductivity, light weight, good flexibility, and durability. As one of the most impressive materials for wearable sensors, conductive fibers can be made from a variety of raw sources via diverse preparation strategies. Herein, to offer a comprehensive understanding of conductive fibers, we present an overview of the recent progress in the materials, the preparation strategies, and the wearable sensor applications related. Firstly, the three types of conductive fibers, including metal-based, carbon-based, and polymer-based, are summarized in terms of their principal material composition. Then, various preparation strategies of conductive fibers are established. Next, the primary wearable sensors made of conductive fibers are illustrated in detail. Finally, a robust outlook on conductive fibers and their wearable sensor applications are addressed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soft Composite-Based Sensors)
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