Macroporous PDMS foam decorated with carbon nanotubes for conductometric pressure and strain sensors

In this work a novel top-down approach for the preparation of macroporous polydimethylsiloxane (mpPDMS) foam decorated with pristine multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) is reported. mpPDMS-MWCNTs foam is subjected to different characterization tests aimed at investigating its morphological, mechanical, and electrical properties. mpPDMS-MWCNTs foam is then used to prepare low cost conductometric pressure/strain sensors with high performance in terms of large dynamic range (strain 0÷80%, pressure 0÷1.22 kPa), low limit of detection (strain 0.01%, pressure 0.14 Pa), limited electrical and mechanical hysteresis (max value of 17.7 and 16%, respectively at strain of 60%), and good reliability.