Multifunctional and miniaturized flexible sensor patch : design and application for in situ monitoring of epoxy polymerization

Abstract Sensor systems capable of in situ, continuous impedance measurements are expected to play an important role for a broad spectrum of applications. However, widespread use of these devices is hindered by their current form of separated sensors from bulky, expensive readout instruments. Moreover, the lack of other relevant sensing functionalities on the same system results in an incomplete understanding of the complex physical and chemical changes taking place. In this paper, a miniaturized sensor patch (MSP) with simultaneous impedance and temperature measurements and fully integrated readout is cleverly designed. By using an on-board microcontroller, sensor signal is read out locally and transmitted digitally, eliminating the noise on the signal over the transmission path. The MSP is stable over a wide temperature range (20–180 °C), and in various dielectric mediums (air, epoxies). Moreover, flexible circuit board technology based device fabrication permits further extended functionalities of the patch with off-the-shelf surface mounted devices. The MSPs were successfully applied for monitoring the polymerization processes of two epoxies, demonstrated the potential of the proposed sensor patch as an integrated and multifunctional sensing solution.

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