PEDOT:PSS Microchannel-Based Highly Sensitive Stretchable Strain Sensor

This paper presents poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate polymer microchannel (diameter approximate to 175 mu m) based stretchable strain sensor developed inside polydimethylsiloxane substrate. The microchannel diameter changes when subjected to various strains, leading to change in the resistance of strain sensor. The sensor exhibits about three order (Delta R/R-0 approximate to 1200) increase in the resistance (R) for 10% applied strain (Delta L/L,L = length of the sensor). This leads to a gauge factor (GF Delta (Delta R/R-0)/(Delta L/L) of approximate to 12 000, which is about approximate to 400 times higher than most of the reported polymer-based strain sensors. The sensor is evaluated up to a maximum strain of 30%, which is the standard strain limit associated with human body parts such as fingers and wrists. The sensor exhibits a considerably good average degree of hysteresis (<9%). Further, the sensor is also studied for bending and twisting experiments. A response of (Delta R/R-0 approximate to 250) and (Delta R/R-0 approximate to 300) is recorded for 90 degrees bending and 150 degrees twisting, respectively. The sensor shows an electrical resolution of approximate to 150% per degree of free bending and approximate to 12k% per percentage of stretching. Finally, the potential application of presented sensor in robotics and wearable systems is demonstrated by using sensor feedback from human hand to remotely control the robotic hand movements.