Effect of metal’s inherent characteristics on sensibility of flexible metal-based composite sensor and its applications

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we propose that the sensibility of the flexible metal/CNTs composite sensor depends not only on work function, but also on Young’s modulus and chemical reaction on the surface. In regard to metals Au, Ag and Cu, the values of work function and Young’s modulus vary as sequences, ΦAu > ΦCu > ΦAg, and ECu > EAu > EAg, respectively; and the surface active stability is Au > Ag > Cu in the air. The experimental and theoretical results revealed that the sensibility of the sensors are GFAu/CNTs-PDMS > GFAg/CNTs-PDMS > GFCu/CNTs-PDMS. Comparatively, the Cu/CNTs-PDMS sensor is of not only much higher comprehensive performances, such as high sensitivity, large strain range, good stability, durability and detection of the out-of-plane force than the traditional strain sensors, but also possible massive production due to its natural abundance and low price among there three metals sensors. Human health monitoring experiments demonstrate that the sensor possesses potential applications in abroad flexible intelligent systems, such as robot arm and finger control, facial expression and joint monitoring, as well as in burglar alarms, etc.