Engineering Commons^™

Microfabrication Of Conductive Polymer Nanocomposite For Sensor Applications, Chaoxuan Liu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation developed novel microfabrication techniques of conductive polymer nanocomposite and utilized this material as a functional element for various physical sensor applications. Microstructures of nanocomposite were realized through novel microcontact printing and laser ablation assisted micropatterning processes. Prototype devices including large-strain strain sensor and highly-sensitive pressure sensor were demonstrated showing distinct advantages over existing technologies. The polymer nanocomposite used in this work comprised elastomer poly(dimexylsiloxane) (PDMS) as polymer matrix and multi-walled carbon nananotubes (MWCNTs) as a conductive nanofiller. To achieve uniform distribution of carbon nanotubes within the polymer, an optimized dispersion process was developed, featuring a strong organic solvent—chloroform, …