Distributed Sensors and Actuators via Electronic-Textiles

1
Distributed Sensors and Actuators via
Electronic-Textiles

• BY
• Sharmila Pichai

2
Introduction

• This work attempts to bridge the gap between the
  science that has been developed so far on
  nanotube technology and their practical
  implementations in textile engineering
  applications
• The increasing trend in automation and use of
  closed-loop control in most of current systems
  has tremendously boosted the need for better and
  improved sensors that are capable of providing
  reliable and accurate feedback information.
• Current practice calls for fabrication of
  piezoelectric ceramic fibers by a rayon extrusion
  technique in which Pb (ZrxTix) O3 (PZT) ceramic
  materials are added to the fiber precursor and
  then spun into continuous ceramic fibers

3
Preparation of Polymer/Nanotube Melt

• Dispersion of Nanotubes This phase involves the
  dissolution/dispersion of CNTs in a solvent (in
  this case, N, N-Dimethylformamide (DMF)) in order
  to disentangle the nanotubes
• Dissolution of the Polymer This stage involves
  the dissolution of the polymer in a suitable
  organic solvent
• Mixing of Polymer and Nanotube Solution This is
  the final step in the melt preparation process
  and basically involves thorough mixing of the
  solutions prepared in the first and second stages.

4
Electrospinning of the Polymer Melt

• The prepared polymer/NT melt is now processed to
  form nano-sized fibers using the technique of
• electrospinning
• According to the principle of the electrospinning
  process
• explained in the foregoing section, fibers of
  the polymer/NT solution get drawn out which
  eventually deposit on the grounded plate to form
  a non-woven mat of nanotube-based composite.

5
EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF CNT-BASED
PIEZOELECTRIC SENSORS

• 1. Processing of the Nonwoven Fabric Obtained
  from Electrospinning
• 2. Characterization of the Non-woven Fabric
  Obtained from Electrospinning
• 3. Experimental Results

6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
(No Transcript)
9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13
(No Transcript)
14
(No Transcript)
15
(No Transcript)
16
Conclusion

• Approaches for designing and developing a
  standardized fabrication scheme for a
  full-fledged multifunctional fabric.
• Automate the entire process and employ certain
  additional devices, such as, high-speed cameras,
  that would enable to analyze the process in
  which nano-sized fibers are spun out of the
  polymer solution.