Paper-Based Screen Printed MWCNT-PDMS Composite Strain Sensor for Human Motion Monitoring

This paper presents a simple and cost-effective method for fabricating multifunctional paper-based strain sensor via screen printing technique for wearable device applications. The novel composite material utilized in this work comprises of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube (MWCNT) and Polydimethyl-siloxane(PDMS) which acts as a piezoresistive material to sense the strain. The MWCNT/PDMS composite was prepared through evaporation technique with Tetrahydrofuran (THF) as the dispersion solvent. The 5wt% MWCNT composite exhibited good printability on the commercial photo printing paper. The fabricated paper-based strain sensor was examined with human finger motion and it exhibited linear electrical resistance change under different strain conditions and also showed excellent mechanical stability under various bending radius from 20 to 5mm. These characteristics demonstrates the suitability of paper based strain sensor for human motion monitoring in wearable electronics applications.