Effect of carbonyl iron powder incorporation on the piezoresistive sensing characteristics of CNT-based polymeric sensor

•Novel manufacturing method was introduced to disperse nano fillers.•Piezoresistive sensing characteristics of the composites were observed.•Incorporation of CIP into the composites improved sensing capabilities. The electrical and piezoresistive sensing characteristics of polymeric composites incorporating carbon nanotube (CNT) and carbonyl iron powder (CIP) were investigated in this study. A novel manufacturing method was introduced to effectively and uniformly disperse CNT and CIP into polymeric composites. Five different CNT proportions and three different CIP proportions were considered to explore the synergistic effects of CNT and CIP incorporation on the electrical and the piezoresistive sensing characteristics of the composites. Piezoresistive sensing characteristics (e.g., electrical resistance changes, time-based peak shifts, R-square values) of the composites were observed, and the effect of the magnetization on their piezoresistive sensing characteristics was also examined. The incorporation of CIP into CNT-embedded polymeric composites was shown to improve the piezoresistive sensing characteristics of the polymeric composites under cyclic tensile strain loads.