Superelastic, Macroporous Polystyrene-Mediated Graphene Aerogels for Active Pressure Sensing

Panpan Zhang; Lingxiao Lv; Zhihua Cheng; Yuan Liang; Qinhan Zhou; Yang Zhao; Liangti Qu

doi:10.1002/asia.201600038

Superelastic, Macroporous Polystyrene-Mediated Graphene Aerogels for Active Pressure Sensing

Chem Asian J. 2016 Apr 5;11(7):1071-5. doi: 10.1002/asia.201600038. Epub 2016 Feb 25.

Authors

Panpan Zhang¹, Lingxiao Lv¹, Zhihua Cheng¹, Yuan Liang¹, Qinhan Zhou¹, Yang Zhao², Liangti Qu³

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, Ministry of Education of China, Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectric/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, School of Chemistry, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China.
² Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, Ministry of Education of China, Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectric/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, School of Chemistry, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China. yzhao@bit.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, Ministry of Education of China, Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectric/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, School of Chemistry, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China. lqu@bit.edu.cn.

PMID: 26852896
DOI: 10.1002/asia.201600038

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) graphene-based polymer/graphene aerogels with excellent mechanical properties are crucial for broad applications. The creation of such polymer/graphene aerogels remains challenging because of the poor dispersion and compatibility of polymer within the graphene matrix. By using the freezing-directed assembly of graphene under the assistance of surfactant, 3D macroporous polystyrene/graphene aerogels (MPS-GAs) with lightweight, superelastivity (80 % strain), high strength (80 kPa), and good electrical properties have been achieved in this study. The as-prepared MPS-GAs shows excellent electromechanical performance with stable cyclic resilient properties and sensitive resistance responses, thus making the MPS-GAs promising candidates for applications in actuators, elastic conductors, strain/pressure sensors, and wearable devices.

Keywords: aerogels; graphene; polystyrene; sensors; superelastivity.