Temperature dependent piezoresistive effect of multi-walled carbon nanotube films

The temperature dependence of piezoresistive effect on multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) films is investigated. The gauge factor for pristine MWNT films and chemically treated MWNT films at 500 microstrain was found to be 46 and 75, respectively, at room temperature, but increased rapidly with temperature, exceeding that of polycrystalline silicon (30) at 35 °C. These findings suggest that the performance of carbon nanotube-based sensors may be significantly superior to that of polycrystalline silicon.