Laser synthesized gold nanoparticles for high sensitive strain gauges
Date
Authors
Advisor
Instructor
Source Title
Print ISSN
Electronic ISSN
Publisher
Volume
Issue
Pages
Language
Type
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
We demonstrate high strain sensitivity property of gold nanoparticle (Au-NP) thin films fabricated on flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates. This behavior is attributed to quantum tunneling effect that is highly dependent on nanoparticle separation. Au-NPs were synthesized in water by nanosecond laser ablation method. The clean surface providing high tunneling decay constant, size of the Au-NPs and Au-NPs aggregate clusters offer advantages for high sensitivity strain sensor. We prepared Au-NPs films on flexible PDMS substrate by using hands-on drop-cast method. To obtain high gauge factor (g factor), we investigated the nanoparticles concentration on the substrate. Laser-generated Au-NPs films demonstrated g factor of ∼300 for higher than 0.22% strain and ∼80 for the strain lower than 0.22% strain, which is favorably comparable to reported sensitivities for strain sensors based on Au-NPs. Mechanical characterizations for the prolonged working durations suggest long term stability of the strain sensors. We discuss several models describing conductance of films in low and high strain regimes.