Ultrasensitive strain sensors of multiwalled carbon nanotube/epoxy nanocomposite using dielectric loss tangent

摘要

In this work, the dielectric loss tangent (tan δ) of a series of strain sensors, fabricated from an epoxy nanocomposite with multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) content varying at 1 wt. %-5wt. %, was characterized experimentally. The effects of four parameters including frequency, strain of nanocomposite, MWCNT content, and loading voltage were investigated extensively. Moreover, an alternative current gauge factor K_(AC) was developed. The largest value of K_(AC) was found to be 256 for the nanocomposite strain sensor with 1 wt. % MWCNT content at 0.6% tensile strain, which indicates the ultra-sensitivity of the present strain sensor.