Multifunctional Slippery Polydimethylsiloxane/Carbon Nanotube Composite Strain Sensor with Excellent Liquid Repellence and Anti-Icing/Deicing Performance

In this paper, a multifunctional slippery polydimethylsiloxane/carbon nanotube composite strain sensor (SPCCSS) is prepared using a facile template method. Benefitting from the slippery surface, the SPCCSS shows excellent liquid repellence properties, which can repel various liquids such as oil, cola, yogurt, hot water and some organic solvents. Meanwhile, the SPCCSS has a large strain sensing range (up to 100%), good sensitivity (GF = 3.3) and stable response with 500 cyclic stretches under 20% strain. Moreover, it is also demonstrated that the SPCCSS displays outstanding corrosion resistance (from pH = 1 to pH = 14) and anti-icing (8 min at -20 degrees C)/photothermal deicing (104 s with NIR power density of 1 W/cm(2)) properties, broadening its application in extreme acid, alkali and low-temperature conditions. Therefore, the multifunctional SPCCSS with the liquid repellence, anti-corrosion, and anti-icing/deicing properties has potential applications in wearable human motion monitoring tools under complex harsh environments.

Automated summary

In this paper, a multifunctional slippery polydimethylsiloxane/carbon nanotube composite strain sensor (SPCCSS) is prepared using a facile template method. The SPCCSS exhibits excellent liquid repellence, corrosion resistance, and anti-icing/deicing properties, with a large strain sensing range and good sensitivity. It has potential applications in wearable human motion monitoring tools under complex harsh environments.