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S&M2519 Research Paper of Special Issue https://doi.org/10.18494/SAM.2021.2950 Published: March 24, 2021 Fabrication of Highly Stretchable Strain Sensor Fiber by Laser Slitting of Conductive-polymer-coated Polyurethane Film for Human Hand Monitoring [PDF] Seiichi Takamatsu, Kanon Minami, and Toshihiro Itoh (Received May 29, 2020; Accepted September 16, 2020) Keywords: stretchable sensors, e-textile, conductive polymer, weaving, slitting
In the research field of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), a highly stretchable sensor fiber that can easily be integrated into a sensor glove or finger cot has been required for detecting human hand motions. In this study, we propose a fiber-type highly stretchable strain sensor by slitting an elastic polyurethane (PU) film coated with a conductive polymer of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS). A 100-μm-thick PU film coated with 100-nm-thick PEDOT:PSS was slit by a laser cutter with a spot diameter of 125 μm. The width of the sensor fiber was only 214 μm, which is equivalent to a conventional thin 205-μm-diameter fishing line. To investigate the strain sensitivity of the PEDOT:PSS-coated fiber sensor at high stretching (>30%), we evaluated the gauge factor as a function of the concentration of ethylene glycol (EG) in PEDOT:PSS solution. The PEDOT:PSS strain sensor fiber with an EG concentration of 0.75% under 37.5% tensile stretching exhibited the highest gauge factor of 0.16. Finally, the sensors were integrated with thin woven fibers using a flat weave method, and the bending movement of a human finger was detected. The manufacturing method proposed in this study is expected to contribute to the realization of a stretchable strain sensor by the use of a wearable polymer die coating and a slitting apparatus.
Corresponding author: Seiichi TakamatsuThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Cite this article Seiichi Takamatsu, Kanon Minami, and Toshihiro Itoh, Fabrication of Highly Stretchable Strain Sensor Fiber by Laser Slitting of Conductive-polymer-coated Polyurethane Film for Human Hand Monitoring, Sens. Mater., Vol. 33, No. 3, 2021, p. 1091-1102. |