title: Strain-driven and ultrasensitive resistive sensor/switch based on conductive alginate/nitrogen-doped carbon-nanotube-supported Ag hybrid aerogels with pyramid design.
abstract: Flexible strain-driven sensor is an essential component in the flexible electronics. Especially, high durability and sensitivity to strain are required. Here, we present an efficient and low-cost fabrication strategy to construct a highly sensitive and flexible pressure sensor based on a conductive, elastic aerogel with pyramid design. When pressure is loaded, the contact area between the interfaces of the conductive aerogel and the copper electrode as well as among the building blocks of the nitrogen-doped carbon-nanotube-supported Ag (N-CNTs/Ag) aerogel monoliths, changes in reversible and directional manners. This contact resistance mechanism enables the hybrid aerogels to act as strain-driven sensors with high sensitivity and excellent on/off swithching behavior, and the gauge factor (GF) is ∼15 under strain of 3%, which is superior to those reported for other aerogels. In addition, robust, elastomeric and conductive nanocomposites can be fabricated by injecting polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) into alginate/N-CNTs/Ag aerogels. Importantly, the building blocks forming the aerogels retain their initial contact and percolation after undergoing large-strain deformation, PDMS infiltration, and cross-linking of PDMS, suggesting their potential applications as strain sensors.
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Shenzhen 518055, China.
authors.forename: Songfang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Guoping
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yongju
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Libo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Jinhui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Ching-Ping
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Wong
keywords: conductive hybrid aerogel; contact resistance; flexible; pyramid design; strain-driven