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A stretchable carbon nanotube strain sensor for human-motion detection

Nature Nanotechnology volume 6, pages 296–301 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Devices made from stretchable electronic materials could be incorporated into clothing or attached directly to the body. Such materials have typically been prepared by engineering conventional rigid materials such as silicon, rather than by developing new materials. Here, we report a class of wearable and stretchable devices fabricated from thin films of aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes. When stretched, the nanotube films fracture into gaps and islands, and bundles bridging the gaps. This mechanism allows the films to act as strain sensors capable of measuring strains up to 280% (50 times more than conventional metal strain gauges), with high durability, fast response and low creep. We assembled the carbon-nanotube sensors on stockings, bandages and gloves to fabricate devices that can detect different types of human motion, including movement, typing, breathing and speech.

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Figure 1: SWCNT-film strain sensor.
Figure 2: Fracturing mechanism of film.
Figure 3: Properties of SWCNT film.
Figure 4: Stretchable wearable devices.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Y. Yamada and T. Toida for their assistance. The authors also acknowledge partial support from Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST) of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanotube Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, 305-8565, Japan

    Takeo Yamada, Yuhei Hayamizu, Yuki Yamamoto, Yoshiki Yomogida, Ali Izadi-Najafabadi, Don N. Futaba & Kenji Hata

  2. Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Kawaguchi, 332-0012, Japan

    Kenji Hata

Authors
  1. Takeo Yamada
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  2. Yuhei Hayamizu
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  3. Yuki Yamamoto
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  4. Yoshiki Yomogida
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  5. Ali Izadi-Najafabadi
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  6. Don N. Futaba
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  7. Kenji Hata
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Contributions

T.Y., Y.H. and K.H. conceived and designed the experiments. T.Y. and Yu.Y. performed the experiments. D.F. contributed to materials preparation, Yo.Y. and A.I. contributed to device demonstration. T.Y. and K.H. co-wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Kenji Hata.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Yamada, T., Hayamizu, Y., Yamamoto, Y. et al. A stretchable carbon nanotube strain sensor for human-motion detection. Nature Nanotech 6, 296–301 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2011.36

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