Comparative study of different carbon materials for the preparation of knitted fabric sensors

Fabric-based flexible sensors prepared from carbon materials as conductive media have promising prospects in human motion detection, gesture recognition, and telemedicine services. Their electro-mechanical properties are influenced by the microscopic nanostructure of the carbon material and the type of fabric substrate. However, choosing suitable carbon materials to fabricate strain sensors for joint movement monitoring has received little attention. In this work, we selected cotton knitted fabrics (CKF) with structures of plain, 1 x 1 rib and 2 x 2 rib as a flexible substrate and reduced graphene oxide (rGO), carboxylic multi-wall carbon nanotubes (c-MWCNTs), and carbon black (CB) as the conductive medium using a scalable impregnation method to prepare rGO/CKF, c-MWCNTs/CKF, and CB/CKF sensors respectively. The electro-mechanical characteristics of the three-carbon material decorated fabric sensors were investigated and compared. The different structures' knitted fabric sensors showed a bimodal curve under the stretch-release cycle at large elongation. The resistance models were developed to explain the bimodal phenomenon. Among three carbon materials, the fabric sensor made by graphene as a conductive material has the best electro-mechanical property. The rGO/CKF sensors showed highly stretchable and durable performance for joint activity monitoring, capable of being applied in smart clothes. [GRAPHICS] .

Automated summary

Fabric-based sensors prepared from carbon materials have promising prospects in human motion detection and telemedicine services. The electro-mechanical properties of these sensors vary depending on the type of carbon material used, with graphene-based sensors showing the best performance.