Design and fabrication of MWCNT-PDMS composite polymer-based flow sensor for low fluid flow detection | |
| Author | Arif, Rezoana Bente |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.ISE-21-14 |
| Subject(s) | Polydimethylsiloxane Carbon nanotubes |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Nanotechnology |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Here, we report the fabrication of a liquid flow rate sensor using multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) reinforced conducting polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer. The polymer composite was prepared by mixing different amount of MWCNT into the PDMS matrix, where the electrical conductivity of the insulating PDMS was observed to improve with the increasing amount of MWCNT. At 10 wt.% MWCNT concentration, the PDMS film exhibited an electrical resistance of 4.17 kΩ, which was further reduced to 2.55 kΩ by increasing the MWCNT concentration to 12 wt.%. The as-prepared MWCNT-PDMS films showed good mechanical strength and flexibility. Using the 12% MWCNT-PDMS nanocomposite films, a sensor to detect the flow rate of a liquid through a channel was developed. The designed sensor system showed a good response against different flow rates of water, where the film resistance was observed to increase with increasing flow rate due to the bending exerted on the film by the liquid flow. With the sensor designed in this study, a limit of detection (LOD) of 150 µl/s was achieved, which is comparable to many of the commercially available sensors. The MWCNT-PDMS flow rate sensor presented in this study has the potential to detect low flow rates in the µl/s range, which can be beneficial for biomedical applications. Besides the effectual measurement of the low flow rates of liquid, the sensor is inexpensive and very easy to fabricate. |
| Year | 2021 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Engineering and Technology (SET) |
| Department | Department of Industrial Systems Engineering (DISE) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Industrial Systems Engineering (ISE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Bora, Tanujjal |
| Examination Committee(s) | Manukid Parnichkun;Bhawat Traipattanakul |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Asian Development Bank–Japan Scholarship Program (ADB-JSP) |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2021 |