Smart strain sensing organic–inorganic hybrid hydrogels with nano barium ferrite as the cross-linker. Issue 8 (6th February 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gu, Hongbo; Zhang, Hongyuan; Ma, Chao; Sun, Hongling; Liu, Chuntai; Dai, Kun; Zhang, Jiaoxia; Wei, Renbo; Ding, Tao; Guo, Zhanhu
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 7:Issue 8(2019)
• Page Start: 2353
• Page End: 2360
• Publication Date: 2019-02-06
• Subjects: Materials -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Optical materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Electronics -- Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/c8tc05448g
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7526

Abstract

Abstract : Polyacrylic acid hybrid hydrogel with nano barium ferrite as a cross-linker exhibits stable piezoresistive sensing performance with negligible hysteresis loops. Abstract : Regarding artificial intelligence and wearable soft electronics, increasing attention has been dedicated to hydrogel strain sensors. However, traditional hydrogels are insulating and fragile. To obtain a continuous and repeatable electrical signal output upon external stress or strain in a hydrogel, the combination of good mechanical property, good elasticity and high electrical conductivity is demanded. In order to apply hydrogel in the strain sensing field, in this work, a smart, flexible organic–inorganic polyanion polyacrylic acid (PAA) hybrid hydrogel is designed with nano barium ferrite (BaFe12 O19 ) as a cross-linker without the addition of any chemically covalent or ionic cross-linkers, exhibiting a high ionic conductivity of 1.22 × 10 −2 S cm −1 . Due to high porosity as confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), the BaFe12 O19 /PAA hybrid hydrogel demonstrates 100% recoverability and stable piezoresistive sensing performance with negligible hysteresis loops under cyclic compression loading tests compared with the N, N ′-methylene bisacrylamide chemically cross-linked PAA hydrogel. This demonstrates that the BaFe12 O19 /PAA hydrogel is not only favorable to be used as a candidate for strain sensors in soft electronics but also facilitates the evolution of a new generation of flexible, wearable, and human-friendly intelligent devices.