Polymer based sensors feeling the strain

Researchers in China have made a new strain sensor to monitor the safety of buildings and other structures. Strain sensors are used to monitor structural damage, so can detect problems in the integrity of buildings during earthquakes, or in the structure of vehicles and aircraft.

Guojia Fang and co-workers from Wuhan University made a sensor out of polymer nanofibres - poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). They used electrospinning to draw out fibres from a mixture of the polymers, then formed a structure of interconnecting strands.  More...

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2011/November/04111102.asp