Long‐term application of core spun fabric strain sensor manufactured via dip coating for large deformation monitoring

Abstract

AbstractIn this study, we fabricated strain sensors using a dip‐coating method on spandex fabric utilizing a mixed solvent of tetrahydrofuran/N,N‐dimethylformamide and carbon black. Scanning electron microscopy images demonstrated a positive correlation between the amount of adhered Carbon black (CB) particles and coating time. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed the thermodynamic behavior of the sensor as gradually heated up to 650°. Mechanical analysis indicated that the reported sensors exhibited a higher elongation at break compared to the original spandex fabric, but with a slight decrease in strength. Moreover, the dissipated energy of each fabric shows a stabilizing tendency after 10 cycles during a 300% stretching‐releasing cyclic tests, where no significant changes observed until the 50th cycle, demonstrating an excellent mechanical repeatability of the fabric sensors. In terms of sensing performance, the sensor exhibited a high sensing range of up to 300%, with the maximum sensitivity reaching 16. Furthermore, we conducted cyclic stretching tests up to 200% strain to characterize the long‐term stability of the fabric's sensing ability. The results demonstrated that our reported method enables a low‐cost and efficient fabrication of sensors with excellent performance.