A novel fluidic strain sensor for large strain measurement

A novel fluidic strain sensor is proposed with the use of a mixture of glycerin with aqueous sodium chloride encapsulated within an elastomer as a mean for piezoresistive large strain measurement. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is conducted for strain response measurement and equivalent circuit analysis is applied for explaining the strain-affected ion transportation behavior of the sensor. The applied strain has caused an increase in both the resistance to charge transfer (R-ct) and the resistance of the salt solution which is reflected in an increase in the resistance of the system (R-sys). A parabolic relationship between the real part of the impedance (Z(re)) and the true strain (E) for an applied strain of up to about 30% is verified. In addition, a novel fluid encapsulation technique by applying oxygen plasma surface modification is introduced. Aqueous sodium chloride is successfully encapsulated within an elastomeric casing with a pattern and this sensor is capable of measuring large strain of even up to about 40%. This method is suggested as an industrial fabrication technique for the strain sensor. The use of ionic liquids for green chemistry has been suggested for years and its use as an electrical conductive media in large strain sensor technology is found to be direct and environmentally friendly. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.