Sensing technology based on nanocomposites

Nanocomposites based sensors were developed and reported by many researchers for different purposes and applications. In the recent years, there have been continuous efforts in utilising nanocomposite materials in sensors in order to improve the performance of the sensors. In this project, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were incorporated into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix as nanofillers to improve the pressure sensitivity of the PDMS pressure sensor. The fabricated pure PDMS and CNTs/PDMS nanocomposites thin films were used as the dielectric layer of the pressure sensor. By incorporating the dielectric layer in between the top and bottom electrodes with flexible films, the pressure sensors were obtained. The pressure sensor was based on the capacitive sensing mechanism where the capacitance changes were measured to determine the pressure sensitivity of each sensor. The ability of the capacitive pressure sensor to detect the smallest load of 2g was shown. The pressure sensitivity of the pure PDMS was 0.0543 kPa-1 and as for the CNTs/PDMS nanocomposites, it achieved a maximum sensitivity of 0.4376 kPa-1. Also, to ensure the stability of the pressure sensor, repeated loading and unloading of a load was investigated. For future work, it is recommended to use other types of carbon-based fillers for comparison of the pressure sensitivity.Bachelor of Engineering (Materials Engineering