AUTHOR=Liu Libing , Xiang Dong , Wu Yuanpeng , Zhou Zuoxin , Li Hui , Zhao Chunxia , Li Yuntao TITLE=Conductive Polymer Composites Based Flexible Strain Sensors by 3D Printing: A Mini-Review JOURNAL=Frontiers in Materials VOLUME=8 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/materials/articles/10.3389/fmats.2021.725420 DOI=10.3389/fmats.2021.725420 ISSN=2296-8016 ABSTRACT=

With the development of wearable electronic devices, conductive polymer composites (CPCs) based flexible strain sensors are gaining tremendous popularity. In recent years, the applications of additive manufacturing (AM) technology (also known as 3D printing) in fabricating CPCs based flexible strain sensors have attracted the attention of researchers due to their advantages of mold-free structure, low cost, short time, and high accuracy. AM technology, based on material extrusion, photocuring, and laser sintering, produces complex and high-precision CPCs based wearable sensors through layer-by-layer stacking of printing material. Some high-performance CPCs based strain sensors are developed by employing different 3D printing technologies and printing materials. In this mini-review, we summarize and discuss the performance and applications of 3D printed CPCs based strain sensors in recent years. Finally, the current challenges and prospects of 3D printed strain sensors are also discussed to provide an insight into the future of strain sensors using 3D printing technology.