Experimental Investigation of the Piezoresistive Properties of Cement Composites with Hybrid Carbon Fibers and Nanotubes.

Cement-based sensors with hybrid conductive fillers using both carbon fibers (CFs) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were experimentally investigated in this study. The self-sensing capacities of cement-based composites with only CFs or MWCNTs were found based on preliminary tests. The results showed that the percolation thresholds of CFs and MWCNTs were 0.5-1.0 vol.% and 1.0 vol.%, respectively. Based on these results, the feasibility of self-sensing composites with four different amounts of CFs and MWCNTs was considered under cyclic compression loads. When the amount of incorporated CFs increased and the amount of incorporated MWCNTs decreased, the self-sensing capacity of the composites was reduced. It was concluded that cement-based composites containing both 0.1 vol.% CFs and 0.5 vol.% MWCNTs could be an alternative to cement-based composites with 1.0 vol.% MWCNTs in order to achieve equivalent self-sensing performance at half the price. The gauge factor (GF) for that composite was 160.3 with an R-square of 0.9274 in loading stages I and II, which was similar to the GF of 166.6 for the composite with 1.0 vol.% MWCNTs.

Electrical Properties of Cement-Based Composites with Carbon Nanotubes, Graphene, and Graphite Nanofibers.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the carbon-based nanomaterial type on the electrical properties of cement paste. Three different nanomaterials, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), graphite nanofibers (GNFs), and graphene (G), were incorporated into the cement paste at a volume fraction of 1%. The self-sensing capacity of the cement composites was also investigated by comparing the compressive stress/strain behaviors by evaluating the fractional change of resistivity (FCR). The electrical resistivity of the plain cement paste was slightly reduced by adding 1 vol % GNFs and G, whereas a significant decrease of the resistivity was achieved by adding 1 vol % MWCNTs. At an identical volume fraction of 1%, the composites with MWCNTs provided the best self-sensing capacity with insignificant noise, followed by the composites containing GNFs and G. Therefore, the addition of MWCNTs was considered to be the most effective to improve the self-sensing capacity of the cement paste. Finally, the composites with 1 vol % MWCNTs exhibited a gauge factor of 113.2, which is much higher than commercially available strain gauges.

Body-Attachable and Stretchable Multisensors Integrated with Wirelessly Rechargeable Energy Storage Devices.

A stretchable multisensor system is successfully demonstrated with an integrated energy-storage device, an array of microsupercapacitors that can be repeatedly charged via a wireless radio-frequency power receiver on the same stretchable polymer substrate. The integrated devices are interconnected by a liquid-metal interconnection and operate stably without noticeable performance degradation under strain due to the skin attachment, and a uniaxial strain up to 50%.

Stretchable Array of Highly Sensitive Pressure Sensors Consisting of Polyaniline Nanofibers and Au-Coated Polydimethylsiloxane Micropillars.

We report on the facile fabrication of a stretchable array of highly sensitive pressure sensors. The proposed pressure sensor consists of the top layer of Au-deposited polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) micropillars and the bottom layer of conductive polyaniline nanofibers on a polyethylene terephthalate substrate. The sensors are operated by the changes in contact resistance between Au-coated micropillars and polyaniline according to the varying pressure. The fabricated pressure sensor exhibits a sensitivity of 2.0 kPa(-1) in the pressure range below 0.22 kPa, a low detection limit of 15 Pa, a fast response time of 50 ms, and high stability over 10000 cycles of pressure loading/unloading with a low operating voltage of 1.0 V. The sensor is also capable of noninvasively detecting human-pulse waveforms from carotid and radial artery. A 5 × 5 array of the pressure sensors on the deformable substrate, which consists of PDMS islands for sensors and the mixed thin film of PDMS and Ecoflex with embedded liquid metal interconnections, shows stable sensing of pressure under biaxial stretching by 15%. The strain distribution obtained by the finite element method confirms that the maximum strain applied to the pressure sensor in the strain-suppressed region is less than 0.04% under a 15% biaxial strain of the unit module. This work demonstrates the potential application of our proposed stretchable pressure sensor array for wearable and artificial electronic skin devices.

Biaxially stretchable, integrated array of high performance microsupercapacitors.

We report on the fabrication of a biaxially stretchable array of high performance microsupercapacitors (MSCs) on a deformable substrate. The deformable substrate is designed to suppress local strain applied to active devices by locally implanting pieces of stiff polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films within the soft elastomer of Ecoflex. A strain suppressed region is formed on the top surface of the deformable substrate, below which PET films are implanted. Active devices placed within this region can be isolated from the strain. Analysis of strain distribution by finite element method confirms that the maximum strain applied to MSC in the strain suppressed region is smaller than 0.02%, while that on the Ecoflex film is larger than 250% under both uniaxial strain of 70% and biaxial strain of 50%. The all-solid-state planar MSCs, fabricated with layer-by-layer deposited multiwalled carbon nanotube electrodes and patterned ionogel electrolyte of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide having high-potential windows, are dry-transferred onto the deformable substrate and electrically connected in series and parallel via embedded liquid metal interconnection and Ag nanowire contacts. Liquid metal interconnection, formed by injecting liquid metal into the microchannel embedded within the substrate, can endure severe strains and requires no additional encapsulation process. This formed MSC array exhibits high energy and power density of 25 mWh/cm(3) and 32 W/cm(3), and stable electrochemical performance up to 100% uniaxial and 50% biaxial stretching. The high output voltage of the MSC array is used to light micro-light-emitting diode (µ-LED) arrays, even under strain conditions. This work demonstrates the potential application of our stretchable MSC arrays to wearable and bioimplantable electronics with a self-powered system.

High-density, stretchable, all-solid-state microsupercapacitor arrays.

We report on the successful fabrication of stretchable microsupercapacitor (MSC) arrays on a deformable polymer substrate that exhibits high electrochemical performance even under mechanical deformation such as bending, twisting, and uniaxial strain of up to 40%. We designed the deformable substrate to minimize the strain on MSCs by adopting a heterogeneous structure consisting of stiff PDMS islands (on which MSCs are attached) and a soft thin film (mixture of Ecoflex and PDMS) between neighboring PDMS islands. Finite element method analysis of strain distribution showed that an almost negligible strain of 0.47% existed on the PDMS islands but a concentrated strain of 107% was present on the soft thin film area under a uniaxial strain of 40%. The use of an embedded interconnection of the liquid metal Galinstan helped simplify the fabrication and provided mechanical stability under deformation. Furthermore, double-sided integration of MSCs increased the capacitance to twice that of MSCs on a conventional planar deformable substrate. In this study, planar-type MSCs with layer-by-layer assembled hybrid thin film electrodes of MWNT/Mn3O4 and PVA-H3PO4 electrolyte were fabricated; when they are integrated into a circuit, these MSCs increase the output voltage beyond the potential of the electrolyte used. Therefore, various LEDs that require high voltages can be operated under a high uniaxial strain of 40% without any decrease in their brightness. The results obtained in this study demonstrate the high potential of our stretchable MSC arrays for their application as embedded stretchable energy storage devices in bioimplantable and future wearable nanoelectronics.

Design and fabrication of novel stretchable device arrays on a deformable polymer substrate with embedded liquid-metal interconnections.

Stretchable devices are fabricated on a newly designed deformable substrate. Active devices attached on the stiff islands are electrically connected by an embedded EGaIn interconnection, which ensures protection from external damage. In this structure, the local strain in the active device area is estimated to be less than 1% under applied strain of 30% by analysis of the strain distribution using the finite element method.

Fabrication of stretchable single-walled carbon nanotube logic devices.

The fabrication of a stretchable single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) inverter array and ring oscillators is reported. The SWCNT CMOS inverter exhibits static voltage transfer characteristics with a maximum gain of 8.9 at a supply voltage of 5 V. The fabricated devices show stable electrical performance under the maximum strain of 30% via forming wavy configurations. In addition, the 3-stage ring oscillator demonstrates a stable oscillator frequency of ∼3.5 kHz at a supply voltage of 10 V and the oscillating waveforms are maintained without any distortion under cycles of pre-strain and release. The strains applied to the device upon deformation are also analyzed by using the classical lamination theory, estimating the local strain of less than 0.6% in the SWCNT channel and Pd electrode regions which is small enough to keep the device performance stable under the pre-strain up to 30%. This work demonstrates the potential application of stretchable SWCNT logic circuit devices in future wearable electronics.

High performance stretchable UV sensor arrays of SnO2 nanowires.

A high performance, stretchable UV sensor array was fabricated based on an active matrix (AM) device that combined field effect transistors of SWCNTs and SnO2 nanowires. The AM devices provided spatial UV sensing via the individual sensors in the array. SnO2 NW UV sensors showed an average photosensitivity of ∼10(5) and a photoconductive gain of ∼10(6) under very low UV (λ = 254 nm) power intensities of 0.02-0.04 mW cm(-2). The UV sensing performance was not deteriorated by a prestrain of up to 23% induced by radial deformation, consistent with the mechanical analysis.

Synthesis of planar chiral (1,3-disubstituted arene) Mn(CO)3+ cations via addition of nucleophiles to (oxocyclohexadienyl)Mn(CO)3 in the presence of chiral ligands.

The first example of the synthesis of planar chiral (1,3-disubstituted arene)Mn(CO)3+ cations (3) has been demonstrated by a reaction of (p-cresol)Mn(CO)3+ with KOBut followed by addition of nucleophiles and subsequent quenching with electrophiles in the presence of (S)-binaphthol in CH2Cl2.