Description
One of the most important biomedical parameters that can be measured by wearable devices is human body movement. This movement is related to limb motion, breathing, speech, heart rate etc. Accurate measurement of these movements requires precise strain and pressure sensors with high sensitivity.
Mechanophores are materials capable of changing physical properties (most often color) in response to local mechanical environment, like strain or stress. This is achieved by insertion of stress-responsive molecular units into the polymeric backbone.
In the present project, mechanophoric elastomeric materials would be synthesized to study if the mechanophoric action can enhance sensitivity of strain sensors for wearable applications. First, new approaches for facile upscaled production of mechanophoric elastomers will be developed through synthesis of small molecule functional cross-linkers, and then the developed mechanophore polymers will be applied as active material for electronic strain sensors.
Goals:
- Synthesize functional mechanophoric cross-linker small molecules;
- Incorporate synthesized mechanophores into elastomers and verify mechanophoric action upon linear strain;
- Validate the effect of mechanophoric units on strain sensing;
- Write a scientific project report;
About BMHT
We are a rapidly growing group of highly interdisciplinary and international students and scientists with backgrounds in engineering, computer science, materials science, chemistry, and health sciences.
Our research focuses primarily on wearable technology. This includes novel materials and sensors for electronic textiles (e-textiles) or other wearables, as well as innovative computational methods for processing bio-signals and monitoring biomarkers detected by our sensing technology. We aim to assist individuals to live healthier lives or to recover from neuromuscular/neurological conditions. We are designing the next generation of wearables for sports and personalized medicine.
