A flexible strain sensor made of graphene nanoplatelets/polydimethylsiloxane nanocomposite

• Graphene nanoplatelets (GNP)/PDMS nanocomposite was used for the fabrication of a capacitive strain sensor.
• The dispersion of GNP in various solvents was examined using FT-IR spectroscopy as an indication tool.
• The sensor was characterized for small strain measurements (≤ 0.2%).

Carbon-based materials are commonly used as fillers in polymer matrices for the fabrication of flexible physical and chemical sensors. Among the carbon materials, graphene has emerged as a promising next generation material replacing the traditionally used carbon black. In this work, we present the fabrication process of flexible graphene nanoplatelets/polydimethlylsiloxane (GNP/PDMS) capacitive strain sensor. In order to optimize the GNP/PDMS suspension, the dispersion of GNP in different solvents for the formation of a homogeneous suspension is examined by FT-IR spectroscopy. The sensor is fabricated by a low cost, easy to implement and rapid method using layer by layer spin-coating. The sensor exhibits linear capacitance change to small strains (≤ 0.2%).

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