Low-Temperature Wearable Strain Sensor Based on a Silver Nanowires/Graphene Composite with a Near-Zero Temperature Coefficient of Resistance

Shicong Niu; Xueting Chang; Zhihao Zhu; Zhiwei Qin; Junfeng Li; Yingchang Jiang; Dongsheng Wang; Chuanxiao Yang; Yang Gao; Shibin Sun

doi:10.1021/acsami.1c14671

Low-Temperature Wearable Strain Sensor Based on a Silver Nanowires/Graphene Composite with a Near-Zero Temperature Coefficient of Resistance

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Nov 24;13(46):55307-55318. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c14671. Epub 2021 Nov 11.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Marine Materials Science and Engineering, College of Ocean Science and Engineering, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai 201306, China.
² College of Logistics Engineering, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai 201306, China.
³ School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.

PMID: 34762410
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c14671

Abstract

Currently, the exploration of wearable strain sensors that can work under subzero temperatures while simultaneously possessing anti-interference capability toward temperature is still a grand challenge. Herein, we present a low-temperature wearable strain sensor that is constructed via the incorporation of a Ag nanowires/graphene (Ag NWs/G) composite into the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer. The Ag NWs/G/PDMS strain sensor exhibits promising flexibility at a very low temperature (-40 °C), outstanding fatigue resistance with low hysteresis energy, and near-zero temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR). The Ag NWs/G/PDMS strain sensor shows excellent sensing performance under subzero temperatures with a very high gauge factor of 9156 under a strain of >36%, accompanied by a noninterference characteristic to temperature (-40 to 20 °C). The Ag NWs/G/PDMS strain sensor also demonstrates the feasibility of monitoring various human movements such as finger bending, arm waving, wrist rotation, and knee bending under both room temperature and low-temperature conditions. This work initiates a new promising strategy to construct next-generation wearable strain sensors that can work stably and effectively under very low temperatures.

Keywords: Ag nanowires/graphene composite; anti-interference toward temperature; low temperature; temperature coefficient of resistance; wearable strain sensors.