title: Nanoalloy Printed and Pulse-Laser Sintered Flexible Sensor Devices with Enhanced Stability and Materials Compatibility.
abstract: While conformal and wearable devices have become one of the most desired formats for printable electronics, it is challenging to establish a scalable process that produces stable conductive patterns but also uses substrates compatible with widely available wearable materials. Here, we describe findings of an investigation of a nanoalloy ink printed and pulsed-laser sintered conductive patterns as flexible functional devices with enhanced stability and materials compatibility. While nanoparticle inks are desired for printable electronics, almost all existing nanoparticle inks are based on single-metal component, which, as an electronic element, is limited by its inherent stabilities of the metal such as propensity of metal oxidation and mobility of metal ions, especially in sintering processes. The work here has demonstrated the first example in exploiting plasmonic coupling of nanoalloys and pulsed-laser energy with controllable thermal penetration. The experimental and theoretical results have revealed clear correlation between the pulsed laser parameters and the nanoalloy structural characteristics. The superior performance of the resulting flexible sensor device, upon imparting nanostructured sensing materials, for detecting volatile organic compounds has significant implications to developing stable and wearable sensors for monitoring environmental pollutants and breath biomarkers. This simple "nanoalloy printing-laser sintering-nanostructure printing" process is entirely general to many different sensor devices and nanostructured sensing materials, enabling the ability to easily construct sophisticated sensor array.
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Physics, and §Department of System Science and Industrial Engineering, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Physics, and §Department of System Science and Industrial Engineering, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rovere
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Physics, and §Department of System Science and Industrial Engineering, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States.
authors.forename: Darshana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weerawarne
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Physics, and §Department of System Science and Industrial Engineering, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States.
authors.forename: Gavin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Osterhoudt
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Physics, and §Department of System Science and Industrial Engineering, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Physics, and §Department of System Science and Industrial Engineering, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States.
authors.forename: Pharrah
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Joseph
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Physics, and §Department of System Science and Industrial Engineering, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Physics, and §Department of System Science and Industrial Engineering, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States.
authors.forename: Bonggu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Physics, and §Department of System Science and Industrial Engineering, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Poliks
authors.affiliation: †Department of Chemistry, ‡Department of Physics, and §Department of System Science and Industrial Engineering, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States.
authors.forename: Chuan-Jian
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Zhong
mesh_terms: D000497:Alloys / Q000737:chemistry*; D007281:Ink; D007834:Lasers; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D011327:Printing; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000497:Alloys; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: nanoalloy; nanoink; nanostructured sensing thin films; printed electronics; printed flexible device; pulsed -laser sintering; wearable sensor