Marcel Knoll, Christina Offenzeller, Bernhard Jakoby, Wolfgang Hilber,
"Material screening for fully printed polymer-based thermocouples designed for use in harsh environments"
, in Measurement Science and Technology, Vol. 29, Nummer 10, Seite(n) 105104, 2018, ISSN: 0957-0233
Original Titel:
Material screening for fully printed polymer-based thermocouples designed for use in harsh environments
Sprache des Titels:
Englisch
Original Kurzfassung:
Thermocouples are widely used as temperature sensors and most commonly made of two
different metallic electrodes which are in contact at the measuring junction. In this work we
present an approach to embed thermocouples in the painted surface of machine components,
facilitating measurement directly at the point of interest for certain applications. The utilized
spray process allows a cost-effective and fast fabrication method. In order to be competitive
with available sensors, the spray-processed sensor ideally has to provide an output voltage in
the same range as commercial ones and should withstand temperatures up to 200 °C while
providing reliable adhesion to the surface at the same time. To meet these requirements, a
material screening was performed including commercial as well as custom-fabricated paints.
In particular, different commercial paints based on silver were combined with a carbon black
polyamide-imide paint to form thermocouples which were then characterized regarding
adhesion, noise and sensitivity (Seebeck coefficient). Furthermore, custom-fabricated paints
based on iron and silver in a polymer binder were evaluated and compared to a commercial
type J thermocouple (iron-constantan thermocouple). The paper reports on identified suitable
material combinations and the associated sensor performances.
Forschungs-