Abstract:
A smart sensing thread based on a cotton substrate and coating realized from Polystyrene
and Carbon nano particles has been developed. The manufacturing method used in this work is an
innovative extru-coating procedure developed especially for the purpose. The strain response of
the smart sensing thread has been recorded using the specially designed amplification module and
data acquisition system. It has been observed that the sensing thread has a heterogeneous structure
along the cross section. This is because of the fact that most of the coating material is deposited at
the surface and the sub-surface layer. The core receives the least amount of absorbed solution.
This has been confirmed by SEM image analysis and visual analysis of the fracture specimens as
well. The smart sensing threads are able to detect strains as the electrical resistance changes with
strain. This can be further used for various sensing applications such as; a Force Sensitive
Resistor, as a Strain Gauge or a bend sensor. The areas of applications of this type of flexible
resistive sensor are vast, spreading from composites for structural health monitoring, to robotics,
to measure pressure on a surface or to detect the bend angle of a prosthetic limb.
