Excellent piezoresistivity of composites made from networked carbon nanotubes and polydimethylsiloxane: An intertube barrier driven strain sensing

Composites made from multi-walled carbon nanotubes and polydimethylsiloxane exhibit an excellent piezoresistivity at elastic limits where strain sensitivity reaches 0.93-0.96 and resistance changes due to stretching and compressing matches with loading histograms. Resistance change becomes pulse-like as the samples are bent and/or twisted, attributed to the rapid increase in intertube spacing. Straining induces movements and segmentations of tube aggregates with tube mobility ranging at 0.1-90 nm/s. Intertube barrier driven sensing mechanism is viscoelasticity related and is therefore interpreted on the basis of spring-dashpot models. (C) 2021 The Authors. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

Automated summary

Composites made from multi-walled carbon nanotubes and polydimethylsiloxane exhibit excellent piezoresistivity at elastic limits, with high sensitivity and matched resistance changes during bending and twisting. Pulse-like resistance changes are attributed to the rapid increase in intertube spacing. The movement and segmentation of tube aggregates explain the tube mobility range and sensing mechanism.