Royal Society of Chemistry, Journal of Materials Chemistry A: materials for energy and sustainability, 5(3), p. 2181-2187
DOI: 10.1039/c4ta05810k
Full text: Download
In this work, carbon cottons (CC) with moderate electrical conductive (11 S/m) were prepared from cotton via a simple pyrolysis process. Flexible and electrical conductive CC/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites were fabricated by vacuum assisted infusion of PDMS resin into CC scaffold. Based on the CC/PDMS composites prepared, a simple yet highly sensitive pressure sensor was developed, which show a maximum sensitivity of 6.04 kPa-1, a wide working pressure up to 700 kPa, a wide response frequency from 0.01 to 5 Hz, and durability over 1000 cycles. Based on our knowledge, the pressure sensitivity of CC/PDMS senor is only next to the record value in pressure sensor (8.4 kPa-1). By integrating the pressure sensor with sport shoe and waist belt, we demonstrate that the real time sport performance and health condition could be monitored. Notably, the device fabrication process is simple and scalable with low-cost cotton as raw materials. The CC/PDMS composites are believed to have promising potential applications in wearable electronic devices such as, human-machine interfacing devices, prosthetic skins, sport performance, and health monitoring.