Carbon fiber-ZnO nanowire hybrid structures for flexible and adaptable strain sensors.

We report the flexible piezotronic strain sensors fabricated using carbon fiber-ZnO nanowire hybrid structures by a novel and reliable method. The I-V characteristic of the sensor shows high sensitivity to external strain due to the change in Schottky barrier height (SBH), which has a linear relationship with strain. This fabricated strain sensor has a quick, real-time current response under both static and dynamic mechanical loads. The change in SBH resulted from the strain-induced piezoelectric potential is investigated by band gap theory. In this work we develop a new feasible method to fabricate a flexible strain sensor within the fabric adapted to textile structures, able to measure their strain.