The sensitive electrical response of reduced graphene oxide–polymer nanocomposites to large deformation

In this paper, the reduced graphene oxide (rGO)–polymer nanocomposite films were prepared by two comparable methods, and their electrical performances at large deformation were measured and analyzed. It is concluded that the gauge factor (GF) value of strain-sensing composite strongly depends on rGO’s content and preparing process. The composites with rGO’s content between percolation threshold and the content which rGO conducting as a complete network show better sensitive electrical response. What’s more, strong interface interaction between conducting filler and matrix benefits the improvement of GF value. The composites we prepared display significant and consistent changes in their GF values when subjected to large deformation, which are suitable for large structural deformation monitoring in advanced civil engineering.