Towards self-healing flexible strain sensors based on graphene ink
Advanced applications such as smart patches and electronic skin have created the need for strain sensors that are not only sensitive and flexible, but also skin- and eco-friendly, and ideally self-healing, i.e. able to recover their sensing performance after damage.
A successful strategy for implementing self-healing strain sensors is to combine a polymer with good self-healing properties with a piezoresistive sensing layer. However, compatibility between the sensing layer and the substrate layer remains a challenge.
A team team of researchers from RWTH Aachen University and AMO GmbH has evaluated the performance of several self-healing polymers and strain sensing layers based on graphene inks. The samples were deposited using a layer-by-layer spray method and evaluated for their suitability for soft electronics applications. The results were published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
Schematics of the fabrication process of the flexible strain sensors and of their possible applications.
The study was initiated during the sabbatical year of Prof. Barış Şimşek at the Electronic Devices Laboratory (ELD). Prof. Şimşek is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Çankırı Karatekin University (Turkey). His research stay in Aachen was supported by a grant from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) and laid the foundation for a fruitful ongoing collaboration.
