Fabrication and Optimization of Aerosol-Jet-Printed Temperature Sensors on Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Composites

Carbon fiber-reinforced composite (CFRP) exhibits high specific strength and excellent fatigue resistance, demonstrating broad application prospects. Direct fabrication of microscale sensors on CFRP surfaces has significant implications for structural health monitoring and functional integration. However, fabricating sensors on CFRP remains challenging due to its inherently weak surface polarity, while existing printedcircuit technologies suffer from low resolution and complex procedures. In this work, a temperature sensor was fabricated directly on CFRP via pretreatment, aerosol jet printing (AJP), and sintering. High-precision Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) traces were printed by optimizing the printing parameters (carrier/sheath gas flow rate and printing speed) through simulation and experimental analysis. Then, AgNPs circuits with good conductivity and adhesion performance were obtained by optimizing the sintering processes, such as sintering temperature and time. Finally, grid temperature sensors with a temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of 2.981 × 10–3/°C and a resistance change rate of 0.545 Ω·°C–1 were successfully fabricated. The sensor achieved precise temperature sensing over 25 ∼ 70 °C with a response time of less than 200 ms and retained good stability after 500 cyclic operation tests, demonstrating excellent temperature monitoring capability. This work demonstrates advanced sensor fabrication on CFRP, paving the way for its potential applications in microelectronics, sensing, and monitoring.