Synergistic liquid metal-silver architectures for strain-sensing fibers

Abstract

With the rapid development of smart wearable devices, there is an increasing demand for flexible and functional materials. This study focuses on the development of flexible strain-sensing fibers using synergistic architectures of liquid metal particles (LMPs) and silver (Ag) nanosheets, aiming to advance the application of LM-based strain-sensing fibers in smart wearable textiles. Microstructural analysis revealed that the LMPs and Ag nanosheets formed interconnected building blocks. This design established a robust and continuous conductive network. The study systematically explores the effects of varying LMPs and Ag nanosheets content, as well as draft ratios, on fiber performance. The results demonstrate that the LM-Ag strain-sensing fibers (LASFs) exhibit high sensing-resolution (detecting strains as low as 0.1%), excellent response linearity over a wide strain range (up to 0.999 over a 250% strain), and high fatigue resistance (withstanding over 10000 tensile cycles). These findings highlight the potential of LASFs for practical applications in smart wearable devices, offering a promising solution for high performance strain sensing fibers.