Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

A stretchable carbon nanotube strain sensor for human-motion detection

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

Subjects

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

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

References

  1. Khang, D. Y., Jiang, H., Huang, Y. & Rogers, J. A. A stretchable form of single-crystal silicon for high-performance electronics on rubber substrates. Science 311, 208–212 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kim, D. H. et al. Stretchable and foldable silicon integrated circuits. Science 320, 507–511 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Kim, D. H. & Rogers, J. A. Stretchable electronics: materials strategies and devices. Adv. Mater. 20, 4887–4892 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Someya, T. et al. Conformable, flexible, large-area networks of pressure and thermal sensors with organic transistor active matrixes. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 102, 12321–12325 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Sekitani, T. et al. A rubberlike stretchable active matrix using elastic conductors. Science 321, 1468–1472 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Sekitani, T. et al. Stretchable active-matrix organic light-emitting diode display using printable elastic conductors. Nature Mater. 8, 494–499 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Urdaneta, M. G., Delille, R. & Smela, E. Stretchable electrodes with high conductivity and photo-patternability. Adv. Mater. 19, 2629–2633 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Mattmann, C., Clemens, F. & Tröster, G. Sensor for measuring strain in textile. Sensors 8, 3719–3732 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Munro, B. J., Campbell, T. E., Wallace, G. G. & Steele, J. R. The intelligent knee sleeve: a wearable biofeedback device. Sens. Actuat. B 131, 541–547 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Scilingo, E. P., Lorussi, F., Mazzoldi, A. & Rossi, D. D. Strain-sensing fabrics for wearable kinaesthetic-like systems. IEEE Sens. J. 3, 460–467 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Cochrane, C., Koncar, V., Lewandowski, M. & Dufour, C. Design and development of a flexible strain sensor for textile structures based on a conductive polymer composite. Sensors 7, 473–492 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Lacour, S. P., Jones, J., Wagner, S., Li, T. & Suo, Z. G. Stretchable interconnects for elastic electronic surfaces. Proc. IEEE 93, 1459–1467 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Hata, K. et al. Water-assisted highly efficient synthesis of impurity-free single-walled carbon nanotubes. Science 306, 1362–1364 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Futaba, D. N. et al. Shape-engineerable and highly densely packed single-walled carbon nanotubes and their application as super-capacitor electrodes. Nature Mater. 5, 987–994 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Hayamizu, Y. et al. Integrated three-dimensional microelectromechanical devices from processable carbon nanotube wafers. Nature Nanotech. 3, 289–294 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Dobie, W. B. & Isaac Peter, C. G. Electric Resistance Strain Gauges (English Universities Press Limited, 1948).

  17. Shin, M. K. et al. Elastomeric conductive composites based on carbon nanotube forests. Adv. Mater. 22, 2663–2667 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Qiang, L. et al. Improved electrical resistance–pressure strain sensitivity of carbon nanotube network/polydimethylsiloxane composite using filtration and transfer process. Chin. Sci. Bull. 55, 326–330 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Fleming, P. J. et al. Interaction between bedding and sleeping position in the sudden infant death syndrome: a population based case-control study. Br. Med. J. 301, 85–89 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Nikitczuk, J., Weinberg, B. & Mavroidis, C. Control of electro-rheological fluid based resistive torque elements for use in active rehabilitation devices. Smart Mater. Struct. 16, 418–428 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Dipietro, L., Sabatini, A. M. & Dario, P. A survey of glove-based systems and their applications. IEEE Trans. Syst. Man. Cybern. 38, 461–482 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Hanly, E. J. & Talamini, M. A. Robotic abdominal surgery. Am. J. Surg. 188, 19S–26S (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Wojtara, T. et al. Hydraulic master–slave land mine clearance robot hand controlled by pulse modulation. Mechatronics 15, 589–609 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Picard, R. W. & Healey, J. Affective wearables. Pers. Ubiquitous Comput. 1, 231–240 (1997).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

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).

Author information

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
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yuhei Hayamizu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yuki Yamamoto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yoshiki Yomogida
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ali Izadi-Najafabadi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Don N. Futaba
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Kenji Hata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

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.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kenji Hata.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information

Supplementary information (PDF 1613 kb)

Supplementary information

Supplementary movie 1 (MOV 3297 kb)

Supplementary information

Supplementary movie 2 (MOV 1021 kb)

Supplementary information

Supplementary movie 3 (MOV 3295 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

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

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2011.36

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Find nanotechnology articles, nanomaterial data and patents all in one place. Visit Nano by Nature Research