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A Highly Elastic, Nanotube-Based Poisson Capacitor
University of California System: University of California, Berkeley
posted on 12/19/2011
Typical percolation strain sensors are piezoresistive; that is, they report changes in the resistance of the percolation network as a function of mechanical stimuli. While use, piezoresistive designs can be difficult to tune as they inherently rely on the mechanical stability of the percolation network and are susceptible to hysteresis and variable gauge factors (the normalized change in resistance divided by the applied strain) as the network adjusts over time.
To address this challenge, investigators at University of California at Berkeley have developed nanotube Poisson capacitor. This piezocapacitive design functions as an elastomeric parallel plate capacitor. This nanotube Poisson capacitor lends itself to inexpensive fabrication and offers high-strain, reliable performance that is more robust to variability in the properties of the percolation network. The nanotube Poisson capacitor sensor consists of two stretchable, percolating, nanotube electrodes separated by a dielectric silicone. When subjected to uniaxial strain, Poisson;s ratio-mediated contraction of the other axes results in a decrease in the separation distance between the electrodes and a corresponding increase in capacitance.Suggested Uses
- medical implants
- soft robotics
- integrated sensors in clothing
Advantages
- inexpensive fabrication
- linear output-highly elastic
- 1.5% variability over 1000 cycles
- 0.99 gauge factor
File Number: 22198
| Copyright: | ©2011, The Regents of the University of California |
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This innovation currently is not available for online licensing. Please contact Kathleen McCowin at University of California System: University of California, Berkeley for more information.
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