Article
  • Preparation of the Electro-Mechanically Durable rGO-SEBS Composite Elastomer and Its Application as a Strain Sensor
  • Dae-Dong Park and Jin-Heong Yim

  • Division of Advanced Materials Engineering, Kongju National University, 1223-24 Cheoandaero, Cheonan, Chungnam 31080, Korea

  • 전기-기계적으로 내구성이 있는 rGO-SEBS 복합 탄성체의 제조와 스트레인 센서로의 응용
  • 박대동 · 임진형

  • 공주대학교 공과대학 신소재공학부

  • Reproduction, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form of any part of this publication is permitted only by written permission from the Polymer Society of Korea.

Abstract

rGO-SEBS elastomer composites were prepared by dispersing reduced graphene oxide (rGO), an electrically conductive reinforcing material, in the polystyrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene (SEBS) matrix with various loading concentrations of 3, 5, and 7 wt%. The elastomer composites were characterized for investigating their application as a strain sensors in terms of morphological, electro-mechanical properties. As the content of rGO increased, the electrical conductivity increased, while the elongation was lowered by rGO content due to its mechanical property-reinforcing characteristics. The addition of 5 wt% or more of rGO causes deterioration of the elastic properties of the elastomer composite. To compensate for this, an appropriate amount of polyethylene glycol (PEG) is added to the 3 wt% rGO composite to improve the dispersibility of rGO through hydrogen bonding as well as enhanced electrical conduction pathways. The addition of PEG achieved high electrical conductivity without the addition of an additional electrically-conductive material along with the minimization of elongation reduction and increased thermal stability. Moreover, the composite showed improved sensitivity (gauge factor), reproducibility, and durability as a strain sensor. PEG added rGO-SEBS elastomer composites are considered to apply to various sensor applications such as humanoid interfaces such as voice, heart rate measurement.


전기 전도성 강화 재료인 reduced graphene oxide(rGO)를 polystyrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene(SEBS)에 3, 5 및 7 wt%의 다양한 로딩 농도로 분산시켜 rGO-SEBS 엘라스토머 복합체를 제조하고 스트레인 센서로의 응용을 위해 다양한 특성 분석을 하였다. rGO의 함량이 증가할수록 전기 전도도는 증가하지만 폴리머 매트릭스에서는 rGO가 기계적 물성 강화 필러로 작용하여 신율이 저하되었다. 5 wt% 이상 rGO 첨가는 엘라스토머 복합체의 탄성적 특성 저하를 야기하여 이를 보완하기 위해 rGO 3 wt% 복합체에 적당량의 polyethylene glycol(PEG)를 첨가하여 rGO와 수소결합을 통해 그래핀의 분산성을 향상시키고 전기 전도 경로를 향상시켜 주었다. PEG의 첨가는 신율 감소의 최소화, 열적 안정성의 증대와 함께 전기 전도성 재료의 추가없이 높은 전기 전도도의 향상을 보여주었고, 균일하고 높은 상대 전기저항 변화(스트레인 센서 감도 증가)와 재현성 및 내구성을 가지는 스트레인 센서로의 응용 가능성을 보여 주었기에 음성, 심박수, 측정과 같은 휴머노이드 인터페이스와 같은 다양한 센서 응용 분야에 적용될 수 있다고 판단된다.


Keywords: reduced graphene, polystyrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene, polyethylene glycol, hydrogen bond, strain sensor.

  • Polymer(Korea) 폴리머
  • Frequency : Bimonthly(odd)
    ISSN 0379-153X(Print)
    ISSN 2234-8077(Online)
    Abbr. Polym. Korea
  • 2022 Impact Factor : 0.4
  • Indexed in SCIE

This Article

  • 2022; 46(1): 81-87

    Published online Jan 25, 2022

  • 10.7317/pk.2022.46.1.81
  • Received on Sep 10, 2021
  • Revised on Nov 2, 2021
  • Accepted on Nov 3, 2021

Correspondence to

  • Jin-Heong Yim
  • Division of Advanced Materials Engineering, Kongju National University, 1223-24 Cheoandaero, Cheonan, Chungnam 31080, Korea

  • E-mail: jhyim@kongju.ac.kr