Differential Structure for Temperature Sensing Based on Conductive Polymer Composites

A property-induced differential structure, which includes negative temperature coefficient unit (NTCU) and positive temperature coefficient unit (PTCU), is designed to increase the sensitivity of temperature sensor based on conductive polymer composite. The composite with/without cellular structure is used as the sensitive material in NTCU/PTCU, which results in a decrease/an increase of the electrical resistance with the increase of the temperature. Through using NTCU and PTCU as the neighboring arms of an electrical bridge, the temperature is converted into a voltage. The results verify the feasibility of using the property-induced differential structure to improve the sensitivity.