Highly Stretchable and Sensitive Strain Sensor Based\non Facilely Prepared Three-Dimensional Graphene Foam Composite

Abstract

Wearable\nstrain sensors with excellent stretchability and sensitivity have\nemerged as a very promising field which could be used for human motion\ndetection and biomechanical systems, etc. Three-dimensional (3D) graphene\nfoam (GF) has been reported before for high-performance strain sensors,\nhowever, some problems such as high cost preparation, low sensitivity,\nand stretchability still remain. In this paper, we report a highly\nstretchable and sensitive strain sensor based on 3D GF and polydimethylsiloxane\n(PDMS) composite. The GF is prepared by assembly process from graphene\noxide via a facile and scalable method and possesses excellent mechanical\nproperty which facilitates the infiltration of PDMS prepolymer into\nthe graphene framework. The as-prepared strain sensor can be stretched\nas high as 30% of its original length and the gauge factor of this\nsensor is as high as 98.66 under 5% of applied strain. Moreover, the\nstrain sensor shows long-term stability in 200 cycles of stretching-relaxing.\nImplementation of the device for monitoring the bending of elbow and\nfinger results in reproducibility and various responses in the form\nof resistance change. Thus, the developed strain sensors exhibit great\napplication potential in fields of biomechanical systems and human-interactive\napplications.