Vapor phase polymerization of PEDOT on silicone rubber as flexible large strain sensor

Timothy Giffney; Mengying Xie; Manon Sartelet; Kean C Aw; Timothy Giffney; Mengying Xie; Manon Sartelet; Kean C Aw

doi:10.3934/matersci.2015.4.414

AIMS Materials Science

2015, Volume 2, Issue 4: 414-424. doi: 10.3934/matersci.2015.4.414

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Research article Topical Sections

Vapor phase polymerization of PEDOT on silicone rubber as flexible large strain sensor

1.
Department Mechanical Engineering, University of Auckland, New Zealand;
2.
Department of Materials Engineering, ENSICAEN, CAEN, France

Received: 24 August 2015 Accepted: 27 October 2015 Published: 31 October 2015

This paper presents a flexible large strain sensor made from ethylenedioxythiophene deposited on silicone rubber (Ecoflex® 00-30) via vacuum assisted vapor phase polymerization (VPP) process. EDOT was used due to its stability when exposed to the atmosphere. VPP is a very simple process requiring only a vacuum bell jar and a vacuum pump. Ferrite chloride (FeCl₃) dissolved in tethrahydrofuran was used as the oxidant to make the resulting poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) conductive. THF was used because it swells Ecoflex® for better infusion of oxidant and PEDOT adherence. The sensor performs reliably up to 80% strain with a gauge factor of ~2.4 and small hysteresis.
- flexible large strain gauge,
- poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene),
- vapor phase polymerization
Citation: Timothy Giffney, Mengying Xie, Manon Sartelet, Kean C Aw. Vapor phase polymerization of PEDOT on silicone rubber as flexible large strain sensor[J]. AIMS Materials Science, 2015, 2(4): 414-424. doi: 10.3934/matersci.2015.4.414

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Abstract

This paper presents a flexible large strain sensor made from ethylenedioxythiophene deposited on silicone rubber (Ecoflex® 00-30) via vacuum assisted vapor phase polymerization (VPP) process. EDOT was used due to its stability when exposed to the atmosphere. VPP is a very simple process requiring only a vacuum bell jar and a vacuum pump. Ferrite chloride (FeCl₃) dissolved in tethrahydrofuran was used as the oxidant to make the resulting poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) conductive. THF was used because it swells Ecoflex® for better infusion of oxidant and PEDOT adherence. The sensor performs reliably up to 80% strain with a gauge factor of ~2.4 and small hysteresis.

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