Vapor phase polymerization of PEDOT on silicone rubber as flexible large strain sensor

• Main Authors: Timothy Giffney, Mengying Xie, Manon Sartelet, Kean C Aw
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AIMS Press 2015-10-01
• Series: AIMS Materials Science
• Subjects: flexible large strain gauge; poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene); vapor phase polymerization
• Online Access: http://www.aimspress.com/Materials/article/490/fulltext.html
• ISSN: 2372-0484

This paper presents a flexible large strain sensor made from ethylenedioxythiophene deposited on silicone rubber (Ecoflex® 00-30) via vacuum assisted vapor phase polymerization (VPP) process. EDOT was used due to its stability when exposed to the atmosphere. VPP is a very simple process requiring only a vacuum bell jar and a vacuum pump. Ferrite chloride (FeCl₃) dissolved in tethrahydrofuran was used as the oxidant to make the resulting poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) conductive. THF was used because it swells Ecoflex® for better infusion of oxidant and PEDOT adherence. The sensor performs reliably up to 80% strain with a gauge factor of ~2.4 and small hysteresis.