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AgNW Treated PU Nanofiber/PDMS Composites as Wearable Strain Sensors for Joint Flexion Monitoring

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Abstract

In this study, wearable polyurethane (PU) nanofiber-based silver nanowires (AgNWs)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites were fabricated and demonstrated as strain sensors to monitor human arm joint movements, investigating electrical resistance change with deformation. With varying content of AgNWs (0.5 wt%, 0.75 wt%, and 1 wt%) in ethanol, PU nanofiber nonwovens were coated with the AgNWs followed by packaging and encapsulation process with commercial snap buttons and PDMS coating. Each sample’s surface morphology was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). After the curing process at 50 °C for 2 hours, the fabricated sensors were integrated to textile-arm sleeves for the wear-trials with a dummy and three human subjects. Given that the resistance of the sensors were the lowest when treated with 1 wt% of AgNWs, the sensors initially showed increase in resistance according to bending motion while the excessive bending resulted in decreasing trend in resistance. Regarding the varying joint flexion speed (0.125–0.5 Hz), sensors with 1 wt% of AgNWs showed the best performance as wearable strain sensors with more accurate signals and stability even under higher frequency.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (No. NRF-2016R1A2 B4014668, NRF-2019R1F1A1060955) and the Brain Korea 21 Plus Project of Dept. of Clothing and Textiles, Yonsei University in 2020.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clothing and Textiles, Yonsei University, Seoul, 03722, Korea

    Sujin Cha, Eugene Lee, Eunji Jang & Gilsoo Cho

  2. Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry, and Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA

    Inhwan Kim

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  1. Sujin Cha
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  2. Inhwan Kim
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  3. Eugene Lee
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  4. Eunji Jang
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  5. Gilsoo Cho
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Correspondence to Gilsoo Cho.

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Cha, S., Kim, I., Lee, E. et al. AgNW Treated PU Nanofiber/PDMS Composites as Wearable Strain Sensors for Joint Flexion Monitoring. Fibers Polym 21, 2479–2484 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12221-020-0018-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12221-020-0018-2

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