A highly elastic, capacitive strain gauge based on percolating nanotube networks.

Cohen, Daniel J; Mitra, Debkishore; Peterson, Kevin; Maharbiz, Michel M · Nano Lett · 2012

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

We present a highly elastic strain gauge based on capacitive sensing of parallel, carbon nanotube-based percolation electrodes separated by a dielectric elastomer. The fabrication, relying on vacuum filtration of single-walled carbon nanotubes and hydrophobic patterning of silicone, is both rapid and inexpensive. We demonstrate reliable, linear performance over thousands of cycles at up to 100% strain with less than 3% variability and the highest reported gauge factor for a device of this class (0.99). We further demonstrate use of this sensor in a robotics context to transduce joint angles.

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