A Screen-Printed Metal Hybrid Composite for Wireless Wind Sensing

Wind sensing has become a key component in various fields with the growing trend of assessing air conditions for energy conversion. In this study, we demonstrated a wireless screen-printable flexible strain sensor system based on Ag/MWCNT composite for wind sensing. To achieve high printability with the metal hybrid composite for the fabrication of a screen-printed flexible sensor, we systematically investigated the rheological properties, resulting in the high shear thinning and thixotropic behavior of the composite. After confirming the suitability for screen printing, we investigated the performance of the printed strain sensor, obtaining a gauge factor (G.F.) of 2.08 with 90% sensitivity and high durability after 6000 bending cycles. In addition, the sensor showed 98% temperature sensitivity during a wind sensing test due to the intrinsic properties of the metal hybrid composite. In an application based on an IoT system, we verified that the response of the wireless sensor corresponded with that of a wired sensor, indicating the expansion of low-cost, mass-produced screen-printed wind sensors.