Hydrophobic and wearable pressure sensor based on Cu NWs/Ag NWs/cotton fabrics

Abstract

In order to improve the sensing performance of wearable sensor, broaden its application range and reduce its preparation cost, copper nanowires (Cu NWs) ink was prepared by hydrothermal method, silver nanowire (Ag NWs) ink was prepared by polyol method, and cotton textiles were successively dipped into Cu NWs ink and Ag NWs ink to prepare Cu NWs/Ag NWs/cotton textile sensor. The effect of the concentration of Ag NWs on the electrical and hydrophobic properties of the sensor was studied, and the micro-morphology of Cu NWs/Ag NWs/cotton fabric and the performance of the sensor were optimized by adjusting the impregnation-drying times. The results show that the Cu NWs/Ag NWs/cotton textile sensor has excellent hydrophobicity, and its water contact angle is up to 147°; The increase of Ag NWs concentration is beneficial to improve the conductivity of Cu NWs/Ag NWs/cotton textiles, but has little effect on their hydrophobicity; and when dipped three times, Cu NWs/Ag NWs/cotton textiles form a stable and excellent conductive network inside. The sensor has the best performance. Its sensitivity is up to 5.64 kPa-1, the detection range is 1.5~20 kPa, and the response recovery time is 300 and 200 ms respectively. It also shows regular current response to smile, fist, touch and other behaviors. The experiments show that the sensor has a good application prospect of health monitoring and underwater motion detection.

Keywords

• wearable sensor
• cu nws/ag nws
• cotton fabric
• hydrophobicity