A Study on Nanomaterials Incorporated Smart Materials for Flexible and Wearable Sensors

Abstract

The latest advancements in electronic sensor technology are pushing the need for materials that are not only
lightweight but also mechanically flexible, stretchable, and budget-friendly. That's where polymer-based
composites come into play. By reinforcing them with hybrid nanomaterials, these composites deliver outstanding
electrical properties while being light, flexible, and stretchable. As a result, flexible composites made from
polymers and nanomaterials are gaining traction as the next generation of smart materials. They're being
extensively researched for a variety of applications, including wearable electronic devices, supercapacitors,
flexible displays, touch screens, health monitoring systems, motion detection, facial recognition, and humanmachine
interfaces, among others. In this study, we showcase the fabrication and testing of flexible composites
and sandwich structures that incorporate nanomaterials with poly (dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) for use in wearable
sensors. We explored two different methods to create these PDMS-based flexible materials. The first method
involved mixing various weight percentages of nanomaterials into the PDMS polymer matrix using a
straightforward solution mixing process. The second method focused on creating a sandwich structure made of
PDMS/nanomaterials coated parafilm/PDMS through a simple and cost-effective technique.