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US 12,728,618 B2Granted
Carbon nanotube based sensor
AssigneeUniversity of Delaware
InventorsErik Thostenson, Sagar Doshi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A carbon nanotube-based sensor comprises a fabric, and a plurality of carbon nanotubes coated on the fabric. The plurality of carbon nanotubes form a network in a plane of the fabric. At least two tap points are coupled to the plurality of carbon nanotubes coated on the fabric. A first of the plurality of tap points is separated from a second of the plurality of tap points, where the first and second tap points have a resistance there between. Application of a force on the fabric, from outside the plane of the fabric, causes a change in the resistance between the first and second tap points.
Claims44
A method for determining an applied force, the method comprising:
- providing a carbon nanotube/fabric-based sensor comprising:
- (i) a non-woven fabric featuring multiple layers of randomly oriented non-conductive fibers;
- (ii) a plurality of carbon nanotubes coated on the non-conductive fibers, the plurality of carbon nanotubes forming an electrically conductive network in a plane of the fabric;
- (iii) at least two tap points/electrodes coupled to the plurality of carbon nanotubes coated on the fabric, a first of the at least two tap points/electrodes separated from a second of the at least two tap points/electrodes, the first and second tap points/electrodes having an electrical resistance there between;
- and
- (iv) wherein the carbon nanotube/fabric based sensor is sufficiently flexible as to conform to a complex geometry;
- receiving a force applied to said carbon nanotube/fabric-based sensor, the force being applied out of the plane of the fabric of the sensor, the force causing a decrease in the electrical resistance as coated fibers in adjacent layers of said multiple layers come into contact with one another, thereby increasing the number of contacts between carbon nanotubes;
- measuring the decrease in electrical resistance between said first tap point/electrode and said second tap point/electrode;
- and
- determining the force applied to the plurality of carbon nanotubes coated on the fabric from outside the plane of the fabric from the measured decrease in electrical resistance.
7 more elements
A method for determining an applied force, the method comprising:
- providing a carbon nanotube/fabric-based sensor comprising:
- (i) a fabric featuring porosity and multiple layers of non-conductive fibers, wherein the fabric is one of a non-woven fabric, a woven fabric, or a knit fabric;
- (ii) a plurality of carbon nanotubes coated on the non-conductive fibers of the fabric, the plurality of carbon nanotubes forming an electrically conductive network of random conductive pathways in a plane of the fabric;
- (iii) at least two tap points/electrodes coupled to the plurality of carbon nanotubes coated on the fabric, a first of the at least two tap points/electrodes separated from a second of the at least two tap points/electrodes, the first and second tap points/electrodes having an electrical resistance there between;
- and
- (iv) wherein the carbon nanotube/fabric based sensor is sufficiently flexible as to conform to a complex geometry;
- receiving a force applied to said carbon nanotube/fabric-based sensor, the force being applied out of the plane of the fabric of the sensor, the force causing a change in the electrical resistance by causing a change in the degree of contact among the carbon nanotubes in adjacent layers of said multiple layers;
- measuring the change in electrical resistance between said first tap point/electrode and said second tap point/electrode;
- and
- determining the force applied to the plurality of carbon nanotubes coated on the fabric from outside the plane of the fabric from the measured change in electrical resistance.
7 more elements
A method for determining an applied force, the method comprising:
- providing a fabric/carbon nanotube-based sensor comprising:
- (i) a fabric featuring multiple layers of non-conductive fibers;
- (ii) a plurality of carbon nanotubes coated on the non-conductive fibers of the fabric, the plurality of carbon nanotubes forming an electrically conductive network of random electrical pathways in a plane of the fabric;
- (iii) at least two tap points/electrodes coupled to the plurality of carbon nanotubes coated on the fabric, a first of the at least two tap points/electrodes separated from a second of the at least two tap points/electrodes, the first and second tap points/electrodes having an electrical resistance there between;
- and
- (iv) wherein the fabric/carbon nanotube based sensor is sufficiently flexible as to conform to a complex geometry;
- receiving a force applied to said fabric/carbon nanotube-based sensor, the force being applied out of the plane of the fabric of the sensor, the force causing a decrease in the electrical resistance as coated fibers in adjacent layers of said multiple layers come into contact with one another, thereby increasing the number of contacts between carbon nanotubes;
- measuring the decrease in electrical resistance between said first tap point/electrode and said second tap point/electrode;
- and
- determining the force applied to the plurality of carbon nanotubes coated on the fabric from outside the plane of the fabric from the measured decrease in electrical resistance.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.