Magnetic/conductive composite fibre: A multifunctional strain sensor with magnetically driven property

Here reports a lastex yarn-silver nanowires-magnetic polymer based magnetic-conductive composite fibre (MCF) prepared by a simple dropping-drying process. The magnetic-mechanic-electric coupling properties of the multifunctional fibre are systematically investigated. It's found that the electrical resistance increases by 44% when the tensile strain reaches 8%. Meanwhile, the relative resistance meets a dramatically variation by applying the external magnetic field. For instance, a 1.5% relative resistance increment is achieved by bending the MCF to 44 deg under a 400 mT magnetic field, in which the magnetic induced force is equivalent to 15 mN. Afterwards, a potential mechanism is proposed to investigate the magnetic-mechanic-electric coupling behavior. The results show that the MCF can be applied both as strain sensors and magnetic field sensors. Furthermore, a magnetic-sensing on-off switch and a flexible gripper are subsequently developed, demonstrating that the MCF possesses high potential in the implement of intelligent soft sensors and actuators.