Wearable and Stretchable SEBS/CB Polymer Conductive Strand as a Piezoresistive Strain Sensor.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Jamatia, Thaiskang Matyas, Jiri Olejnik, Robert Danova, Romana Maloch, Jaroslav Skoda, David Slobodian, Petr Kuritka, Ivo
Editor	Pucci, Andrea
Copyright Year	2023
Abstract	A wearable and stretchable strain sensor with a gauge factor above 23 was prepared using a simple and effective technique. Conducting nanocomposite strands were prepared from styrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene triblock copolymer (SEBS) and carbon black (CB) through a solvent-processing method that uses a syringe pump. This novel nanocomposite preparation technique is a straightforward and cost-effective process and is reported in the literature for the first time. The work included two stages: the flexible nanocomposite preparation stage and the piezoresistive sensor stage. Depending on its molecular structure, the thermoelastic polymer SEBS is highly resilient to stress and strain. The main aim of this work is to fabricate a highly flexible and piezoresistive nanocomposite fibre/strand. Among the prepared composites, a composite corresponding to a composition just above the percolation threshold was selected to prepare the strain sensor, which exhibited good flexibility and conductivity and a large piezoresistive effect that was linearly dependent on the applied strain. The prepared nanocomposite sensor was stitched onto a sports T-shirt. Commercially available knee and elbow sleeves were also purchased, and the nanocomposite SEBS/CB strands were sewn separately on the two sleeves. The results showed a high sensitivity of the sensing element in the case of breathing activity (normal breathing, a 35% change, and deep breathing at 135%, respectively). In the case of knee and elbow movements, simultaneous measurements were performed and found that the sensor was able to detect movement cycles during walking.
Journal	Polymers
Volume Number	15
PubMed Central reference number	PMC10096618
Issue Number	7
PubMed reference number	37050233
e-ISSN	20734360
DOI	10.3390/polym15071618
Language	English
Publisher	MDPI
Publisher Date	2023-03-24
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). © 2023 by the authors.
Subject Keyword	highly stretchable wearable electronics SEBS/CB composite strand novel preparation technique piezoresistive sensor respiration activity strain posture detection
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Chemistry Polymers and Plastics