Title | Super-Soft Solvent-Free Bottlebrush Elastomers for Touch Sensing |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2020 |
Authors | Reynolds, Veronica G., Sanjoy Mukherjee, Renxuan Xie, Adam E. Levi, Amalie Atassi, Takumi Uchiyama, Hengbin Wang, Michael L. Chabinyc, and Christopher M. Bates |
Journal | Materials Horizons |
Volume | 7 |
Issue | 1 |
Pagination | 181-187 |
Abstract | The sensitivity of capacitive pressure sensors is primarily determined by the modulus of a soft dielectric layer that reversibly deforms to produce an electrical signal. Unfortunately, the mechanical properties of conventional linear networks are constrained such that a lower limit on softness translates to poor capacitive pressure sensor performance. Here, we overcome this paradigm by leveraging the intrinsic “super-soft” characteristic of bottlebrush polymers. A simple light-induced crosslinking strategy is introduced to facilitate device fabrication and parallel plate capacitive pressure sensors constructed with these bottlebrush polymer networks exhibit up to a 53× increase in sensitivity compared to traditional material formulations, e.g., Sylgard 184. This combination of contemporary synthetic chemistry and application-driven materials design accentuates the opportunities available at the intersection of science and engineering. |
URL | https://doi.org/10.1039/C9MH00951E |
DOI | 10.1039/C9MH00951E |