PIEZORESISTIVE PROPERTIES OF MULTI-WALLED CARBON NANOTUBE-POLY(DIMETHYLSILOXANE) COMPOSITES FOR LOW-PRESSURE-SENSING APPLICATIONS

Low-pressure-sensitive composites using multi-walled carbon nanotubes as a conductive filler and poly(dimethylsiloxane) as a polymer matrix have been fabricated, and their electrical and piezoresistive properties have been studied. A large aspect ratio of the MWCNTs was used to achieve good electrical properties of the composite, which led to a significant decrease in the percolation threshold and an increase in the electrical conductivity for very low MWCNT loadings. The piezoresistive properties of the composites at <1.2 MPa were studied, which showed that the resistance-pressure sensitivity of the composites could be modulated by varying the MWCNT loading in the PDMS matrix.