Highly Sensitive Built-In Strain Sensors for Polymer Composites: Fluorescence Turn-On Response through Mechanochemical Activation

Zhong'an Li; Ryan Toivola; Feizhi Ding; Jeffrey Yang; Po-Ni Lai; Tucker Howie; Gary Georgeson; Sei-Hum Jang; Xiaosong Li; Brian D Flinn; Alex K-Y Jen

doi:10.1002/adma.201600589

Highly Sensitive Built-In Strain Sensors for Polymer Composites: Fluorescence Turn-On Response through Mechanochemical Activation

Adv Mater. 2016 Aug;28(31):6592-7. doi: 10.1002/adma.201600589. Epub 2016 May 17.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
² Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
³ Boeing Research & Technology, Seattle, WA, 98108, USA.

PMID: 27184010
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201600589

Abstract

A new class of rationally designed mechanophores is developed for highly sensitive built-in strain sensors in polymer composites. These mechanophores are designed to regenerate the π-conjugation pathway between the electron donor and electron acceptor by force-induced cleavage of the covalent bond to form a fluorescent dipolar dye.

Keywords: fluorescence; mechanochromism; strain sensor; turn-on.