Efficient design of piezoresistive sensors based on carbon black conductive composites

Flexible and stretchable sensors are widely investigated taking into account their potential for wearable electronics, such as electronic skin, healthcare monitoring, human-machine interfaces, and soft robotics. In this contribution, highly sensitive conductive polymer composites (CPCs) for piezoresistive sensing are summarized, considering a straightforward manufacturing process based on extrusion of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and/or olefin block copolymer (OBC), carbon black (CB), and additionally polyethylene-octene elastomer (POE) grafted with maleic anhydride (POE-g-MA). The design of the formulation variables is successfully performed to enable both low and high strain sensing, as highlighted by both static and dynamic testing.