Off-the-shelf planar strain gauges are ubiquitous and are generally designed for materials with a large elastic modulus such as steel or aluminum. Correspondingly, the strain gauges themselves are stiff and do not deform substantially under applied stress. Pairs of this type of strain gauge are typically used in a Wheatstone bridge circuit allowing the measurement of very small changes in resistance due to the changes in sensing element cross-sectional area to be measured. However, their use with softer low-modulus materials is limited due to the larger elastic deformations involved. The conductive property of graphene is leveraged to produce a different type of strain sensor that is sensitive yet also capable of significant elastic deformation. The graphene is dispersed in a silicone-based polymer matrix such that the deformation induces a change in resistance that can be measured using a voltage divider circuit. The target application for which this sensor is developed is to measure strain in a pressurized length of soft Tygon® tubing which is often used in pumping fluids through microfluidic devices. However, the silicone-based graphene polymer can easily be applied to a variety of other shapes and soft materials.

现成的平面应变仪无处不在，通常设计用于具有较大弹性模量的材料，例如钢或铝。相应地，应变仪本身是刚性的，并且在施加的应力下基本不变形。通常在惠斯通电桥电路中使用成对的这种应变仪，由于要测量的传感元件截面积的变化，因此可以测量非常小的电阻变化。但是，由于涉及较大的弹性变形，它们在较软的低模量材料中的使用受到限制。石墨烯的导电性能被利用来产生不同类型的应变传感器，该应变传感器既灵敏又能够显着地弹性变形。石墨烯分散在有机硅基聚合物基体中，这样变形会引起电阻变化，可以使用分压器电路进行测量。开发该传感器的目标应用是测量加压的Tygon®管的长度内的应变，该管常用于通过微流体设备泵送流体。但是，基于有机硅的石墨烯聚合物可以轻松地应用于多种其他形状和柔软的材料。