Bioinspired Superhydrophobic and Durable Octadecanoic Acid/Ag Nanoparticle-Decorated Rubber Composites for High-Performance Strain Sensors

Abstract

Electrically conductive elastomer composites (CECs) show potential applications in wearable strain sensing. However, it remains a great challenge to develop a facile and versatile method to prepare multifunctional CEC strain sensors integrating superhydrophobicity, high electrical conductivity, strong interfacial adhesion, and excellent durability. Inspired by the surface superhydrophobicity of taro leaves, herein, a highly conductive and fluorine-free superhydrophobic CEC is fabricated by a novel "ion reduction and simultaneous molecule phase separation" method. Octadecanoic acid (OCA) with low surface energy can not only impart the CEC with superhydrophobic property and corrosive resistance but also greatly enhance the interfacial interaction between AgNPs. The obtained CEC shows high conductivity (21.9 S/cm) and superhydrophobicity (with a contact angle of 152.6°). The superhydrophobic CEC with excellent corrosion resistance can be used as strain sensors and shows large working strain and sensitivity (with a gauge factor of 61.8 at the strain range of 80−120%) and excellent cycle stability. Also, it can detect human motions in both ambient and underwater conditions, showing promising applications in underwater wearable electronics.

Highly Stretchable, Sensitive, and Durable Ag/Tannic Acid@Graphene Oxide-Composite Hydrogel for Wearable Strain Sensors

“…The sensitivity of the strain sensor was usually described by the gauge factor (GF), which was calculated by the formula GF = (Δ R / R 0 )/ε, where Δ R = R – R 0 , , R 0 is the original resistance of the Ag/TA@GO-PAM hydrogel, R is the resistance in real time, and ε is the applied strain. The resistance rates (Δ R / R 0 ) of the Ag/TA@GO-PAM hydrogel at low strains (10, 30, and 50%) and high strains (100, 500, and 1000%) for three tensile-release cycles are displayed in Figure a,b, respectively.…”

Carbon Nanomaterials Modified Biomimetic Dental Implants for Diabetic Patients

“…Biomimetic dental implants can be achieved by modifying the surface of an implant material [51]. Surface properties such as surface roughness are important factors governing the success of dental implants [52], and it is the intrinsically nanostructured surface features of the cicada [53][54][55], dragonfly [56,57], shark skin [57,58], gecko feet [21], taro [59][60][61], and lotus leaves [62,63] that are able to impart self-cleaning and antibacterial capabilities to dental implants [19]. Biomimetic dental implants have many advantages over ordinary implants; for example, modified surfaces or functionalized biomimetic dental implants can help increase antimicrobial action [19] by adding a functional group with antimicrobial properties [51].…”

Fabrication of conductive and superhydrophobic poly(lactic acid) nonwoven fabric for human motion detection

“…Superhydrophobic surfaces with water contact angle (WCA) above 150 have attracted enormous attention due to their great application potential in oil-water separation, self-cleaning, antiicing, and microfluidics. [23][24][25][26][27] In recent years, superhydrophobic surface has been incorporated into piezoresistive pressure sensor to improve the water repellency by some researchers, while the substrates are difficult to be degraded, including polyimide, 28 polyester, 29 rubber, 30,31 and so forth. Therefore, the design and preparation of piezoresistive pressure sensors integrating with biodegradability and superhydrophobicity is an important development direction, which cannot only widen application range, but also benefit for environment protection.…”