Embedded Perovskite-Mechanoluminescent Sensor for Applications in Composite Materials

There is a growing need to automatically detect and monitor functional changes such as fatigue, wear, damage, or age in the structural components. It is even more attractive if the sensors are embedded in the structure for in-situ structural health monitoring (SHM). In this work, we developed Mechanoluminescence-based sensors for damage sensing and SHM. A flexible, sensitive, and self-powered pressure sensor was developed by integrating a mechanoluminescent device with a light-absorbing layer of the perovskite material. Understanding the behavior of the device as an embedded sensor is necessary for its application in continuous in-situ SHM of multifunctional composite materials. We showed a successful encapsulation process and the embedment of this sensing device into a glass fiber composite. Further investigations were performed to confirm the capability of the embedded sensor to detect the damages in the structures. The embedded sensor could be an effective method for real-time in-situ SHM.