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Kanuri, S. L. (2013). Fabrication, Characterization and Evaluation of Graphite Polyvinyl Alcohol Based Piezoresistive Sensors. Retrieved from http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-7443
Graphene based nanocomposites became the most popular research interest for researchers in the manufacturing of sensor and actuator devices because of their novel electrical and mechanical properties and very good piezoresistive behavior. Though CNT's occupy the major share in carbon based nanomaterial applications, they have their own limitations like poor homogeneity in dispersion, high cost and scale-up problems. With comparable properties to CNT's and low manufacturing cost Graphite based polymer nanocomposites serve as an alternative for carbon nanotube based piezoresistive sensors. In this research high concentration Graphite/PVA composite dispersion was prepared using horn type sonicator. The pure dispersion was diluted to various composite concentrations by adding various concentrations of neat Polyvinyl alcohol. The composite piezoresistive sensors were prepared by spray coating the dispersion. Through this fabrication technique the thickness of the sensor can be controlled as the dispersion being sprayed can be controlled. For each dispersion four samples with different thickness were prepared. Characterization of the dispersion was done using UV-VIS spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering. The morphology of the sensors was observed using scanning electron microscopy and the thermal properties were analysed using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. Piezoresistive behavior of the prepared sensors was analyzed using dynamic mechanical analysis. Electrical and mechanical properties of the sensor were simultaneously monitored by multimeter and the DMA cyclic testing respectively. Highest gauge factor of 126 was observed for the films with 49.43% Graphite/PVA concentration.
A Thesis submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references.
Advisory Committee
Tao Liu, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; William Oates, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Peter Kalu, Committee Member; Jonathan Clark, Committee Member.
Publisher
Florida State University
Identifier
FSU_migr_etd-7443
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Kanuri, S. L. (2013). Fabrication, Characterization and Evaluation of Graphite Polyvinyl Alcohol Based Piezoresistive Sensors. Retrieved from http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-7443