Development of Eco-Friendly and High-Strength Foam Sensors Based on Segregated Elastomer Composites with a Large Work Range and High Sensitivity

Li, Xueyun; Wu, Minghui; Ma, Wenyu; Zhou, Xiao; Chen, Jiali; Ren, Qian; Li, Shan; Xiao, Peng; Wang, Long; Zheng, Wenge

doi:10.1021/acsami.3c13458

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Elastomer foams, a type of lightweight soft material, have been widely used in our daily lives including traditional application fields − (such as packaging, construction, and sports) and advanced technical fields − (such as electromagnetic shielding, sensing, energy harvest, and soft actuators) attributed to its notable features, including porosity, excellent elasticity, energy absorption, and thermal and sound insulation capabilities . It was worth noting that the performance of elastomer foams was highly affected by their microstructures, like cell size, cell distribution, cell density, and internal porosity. , In recent years, researchers have not only paid attention to the homogeneous cellular structures but also designed other heterogeneous cellular structures in elastomer foams, such as bimodal cell structures, , gradient cell structures, , wrinkle structures, , and alternating multilayered structures, , to endow foams with superior performance or satisfy customizable requirements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Customized Multimodal Cellular Elastomer Foams through Presetting Cells before CO₂ Foaming

Zheng,

Guo,

Pei

et al. 2024

ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.

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Elastomer foams with customized multimodal cellular structures have great application requirements in advanced fields, but a simple and practical way to realize it needs to be further studied. Herein, a strategy of presetting cells into elastomers before supercritical CO 2 foaming was introduced to customize the cellular structures. Typically, taking olefin block copolymers (OBC, a thermoplastic elastomer with crystalline hard segments and rubbery soft segments) foams as an example, bimodal, sandwich, and gradient multimodal cellular structures were successfully prepared. The interaction between preset cells and newly nucleated cells during foaming had been systematically studied by controlling the morphology of preset cells and foaming conditions. It was found that the configuration of preset cells and the nucleation rate of small cells in OBC foams had a significant impact on their cellular structures. Specifically, the bimodal cellular structures can improve the expansion ratio and elasticity of OBC foams, and their rebounding ability could be improved by 14%, while their energy loss coefficient would be decreased by 17% (compared to homogeneous ones in this study). Furthermore, the feasibilities of this strategy in other elastomer foams (like POE, EPDM, and EVA foams) with bimodal cellular structures were also verified, which was expected to promote the development of high-performance elastomer foams.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Customized Multimodal Cellular Elastomer Foams through Presetting Cells before CO₂ Foaming

Zheng,

Guo,

Pei

et al. 2024

ACS Appl. Polym. Mater.

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“…Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted tremendous attention in various fields of science and engineering due to their unique structure and special electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties, , and they are widely used as conductive fillers for multifunctional reinforcements. − For decades, CNTs-based polymer nanocomposites have attracted great attention in many fields (such as antistatic materials, conductive sensors, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials), , due to their low cost, ease of processing, light weight, high strength, and chemical resistance character . The interaction of microwave with CNTs remains ongoing research …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microwave-Induced Facile Molding of Lightweight and High-Strength Segregated-CNTs/Polycarbonate Foams

Yang,

Feng,

et al. 2024

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

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Polymer foams have attracted great attention in various fields due to the excellent properties brought by their unique microporous structures. However, the severe thermal stability of commodity thermoplastic polymer and foams hindered them from high-end applications. Polycarbonate (PC) is a widely recognized engineering plastic with an amorphous structure. Herein, a facile technique was proposed for preparing lightweight and high-strength segregated-CNTs/PC foams by microwaveinduced selective heating and molding. The microstructures, mechanical properties, thermal properties, and sinter molding behaviors of the CNTs/PC foams were studied by investigating the effects of microwave power, irradiation time, and microwave absorbent contents. Upon in situ molding of the CNTs-coated expandable PC granules inside microwave transparent molds of various geometric shapes, CNTs served as solders to form CNTs/ PC foam. By modifying the foaming parameters, CNTs/PC foams with densities ranging from 0.19 to 0.27 g/cm 3 and cell sizes of 5−25 μm were successfully obtained. Mechanical testing revealing that the CNTs/PC foam prepared under 2880 W microwave power and a welding time of 25 s exhibited the optimal expansion ratio. Under the ablation test, the CNTs/PC foams showed good heat insulation. This study opens a new direction for the molding of high-performance and engineering thermoplastic foams.

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“…Of course, if the goal is not to obtain foams with bactericidal properties, cheaper materials like carbon can be used instead of silver to produce electroconductive composites. Li et al [ 23 , 24 ] fabricated electroconductive composite foams based on poly(ether block amide) (PEBA) and a carbon nanostructure (CNS), demonstrating their excellent electrical sensitivity to compression. The electrical conductivity could be significantly altered by changing the foam’s expansion ratio.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As expected, an increase in the foam’s porosity leads to lower conductivity due to the reduced density of electric current pathways. The conductivity of the materials almost linearly increased with the addition of more carbon into the composite due to the increased density of electric current pathways [ 23 ]. A material with a similar composition showed good properties for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, which changed with humidity, making these materials useful for manufacturing motion sensors attached to the human body [ 24 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Highly Electroconductive Metal-Polymer Hybrid Foams Based on Silver Nanowires: Manufacturing and Characterization

Linul,

Bănică,

Grad

et al. 2024

Polymers

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Due to their electroconductive properties, flexible open-cell polyurethane foam/silver nanowire (PUF/AgNW) structures can provide an alternative for the construction of cheap pressure transducers with limited lifetimes or used as filter media for air conditioning units, presenting bactericidal and antifungal properties. In this paper, highly electroconductive metal-polymer hybrid foams (MPHFs) based on AgNWs were manufactured and characterized. The electrical resistance of MPHFs with various degrees of AgNW coating was measured during repeated compression. For low degrees of AgNW coating, the decrease in electrical resistance during compression occurs in steps and is not reproducible with repeated compression cycles due to the reduced number of electroconductive zones involved in obtaining electrical conductivity. For high AgNW coating degrees, the decrease in resistance is quasi-linear and reproducible after the first compression cycle. However, after compression, cracks appear in the foam cell structure, which increases the electrical resistance and decreases the mechanical strength. It can be considered that PUFs coated with AgNWs have a compression memory effect and can be used as cheap solutions in industrial processes in which high precision is not required, such as exceeding a maximum admissible load or as ohmic seals for product security.

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Development of Eco-Friendly and High-Strength Foam Sensors Based on Segregated Elastomer Composites with a Large Work Range and High Sensitivity

Cited by 5 publications

References 71 publications

Customized Multimodal Cellular Elastomer Foams through Presetting Cells before CO₂ Foaming

Customized Multimodal Cellular Elastomer Foams through Presetting Cells before CO₂ Foaming

Microwave-Induced Facile Molding of Lightweight and High-Strength Segregated-CNTs/Polycarbonate Foams

Highly Electroconductive Metal-Polymer Hybrid Foams Based on Silver Nanowires: Manufacturing and Characterization

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Development of Eco-Friendly and High-Strength Foam Sensors Based on Segregated Elastomer Composites with a Large Work Range and High Sensitivity

Cited by 5 publications

References 71 publications

Customized Multimodal Cellular Elastomer Foams through Presetting Cells before CO2 Foaming

Customized Multimodal Cellular Elastomer Foams through Presetting Cells before CO2 Foaming

Microwave-Induced Facile Molding of Lightweight and High-Strength Segregated-CNTs/Polycarbonate Foams

Highly Electroconductive Metal-Polymer Hybrid Foams Based on Silver Nanowires: Manufacturing and Characterization

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Product

Resources

About

Customized Multimodal Cellular Elastomer Foams through Presetting Cells before CO₂ Foaming

Customized Multimodal Cellular Elastomer Foams through Presetting Cells before CO₂ Foaming