Piezoresistive behavior of DLP 3D printed CNT/polymer nanocomposites under monotonic and cyclic loading

This study examines the piezoresistive behavior of MWCNT/polymer composites fabricated by the digital light processing (DLP) technique. A photocurable nanocomposite resin feedstock possessing low viscosity with excellent printability and high conductivity was developed for DLP 3D printing of bulk and cellular geometries. By optimizing the resin composition and synthesis route, electrical percolation was achieved at an ultra-low MWCNT loading of 0.01 phr (parts per hundred resin), providing a conductivity of 3.5 × 10−5 S m−1, which is significantly higher than the values reported in the extant works for similar nanocomposites. Reducing the MWCNT content also enhanced the piezoresistivity of the nanocomposite due to longer inter-MWCNT distances in the percolating conductive network. Under quasi-static tensile loading, the nanocomposite with 0.01 phr MWCNT loading showed gauge factors of 2.40 and 4.78, corresponding to the elastic and inelastic regime, respectively. Quasi-static cyclic tensile tests with constant strain amplitudes (within elastic regime) revealed that the response of the nanocomposite was affected by viscoelastic deformation, which caused significant changes in the material’s strain sensing performance between consecutive load cycles. Finally, the developed resin was used to realize a self-sensing gyroid lattice structure, and its strain and damage sensing capabilities were demonstrated.