Piezoresistive response of epoxy composites with carbon nanoparticles under tensile load

In this paper, electrically conductive epoxy based nanocomposites based on multiwall carbon nanotubes and carbon black were investigated concerning their potential for strain sensing applications with electrical conductivity methods. This paper aims to investigate the electromechanical response of the nanocomposite matrices subjected to mechanical load. It was found that the nanocomposites exhibit a distinct resistance vs strain behavior in the regime of elastic deformation, which is in good agreement with prevalent theories about charge carrier transport mechanisms in isolator/conductor composites. Applying an analytical model, it could be shown that the piezoresistivity of nanocomposites may contribute valuable information about the conductive network structure and charge carrier transport mechanisms occurring in the nanocomposites.