The last decade has witnessed a tremendous growth of research and development in flexible and wearable strain sensors. However, there are still some challenges associated with the fabrication of strain sensors to achieve a high sensitivity and large workable range at low cost. Here, we report on the development of a highly elastic strain sensor based on a commercial spandex fiber coated with a nanocomposite consisting of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) manufactured by a layer-by-layer (LBL) method. The sensor demonstrated outstanding performance with large workable strain, high sensitivity, excellent repeatability and regular signal responses within a wide measuring frequency range of 0.01–1 Hz. Additionally, the effect of ultraviolet irradiation on the sensor performance was also investigated. Application of the sensor in monitoring diverse human motions, such as facial micro expressions and speech recognition, are also demonstrated showing its potential for applications in wearable devices and intelligent robots.

在过去的十年中，挠性和可穿戴应变传感器的研究与开发取得了巨大的增长。但是，仍然存在与应变传感器的制造相关的一些挑战，以低成本实现高灵敏度和较大的可工作范围。在这里，我们报告了一种高弹性应变传感器的开发，该传感器基于涂覆有纳米复合材料的商用氨纶纤维，该复合材料由多层碳纳米管（MWCNT）和由层层（LBL）制造的热塑性聚氨酯（TPU）组成方法。在0.01-1 Hz的宽测量频率范围内，该传感器表现出出色的性能，具有较大的可加工应变，高灵敏度，出色的重复性和规则的信号响应。此外，还研究了紫外线辐射对传感器性能的影响。