title: Copper Nanowire-Based Aerogel with Tunable Pore Structure and Its Application as Flexible Pressure Sensor.
abstract: Aerogel is a kind of material with high porosity and low density. However, the research on metal-based aerogel with good conductivity is quite limited, which hinders its usage in electronic devices, such as flexible pressure sensors. In this work, we successfully fabricate copper nanowire (CuNW) based aerogel through a one-pot method, and the dynamics for the assembly of CuNWs into hydrogel is intensively investigated. The "bubble controlled assembly" mechanism is put forward for the first time, according to which tunable pore structures and densities (4.3-7.5 mg cm-3) of the nanowire aerogel is achieved. Subsequently, ultralight flexible pressure sensors with tunable sensitivities (0.02 kPa-1to 0.7 kPa-1) are fabricated from the Cu NWs aerogels, and the negative correlation behavior of the sensitivity to the density of the aerogel sensors is disclosed systematically. This work provides a versatile strategy for the fabrication of nanowire-based aerogels, which greatly broadens their application potential.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 1295 Ding Xi Road, Shanghai 200050, P. R. China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaojuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 1295 Ding Xi Road, Shanghai 200050, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ranran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 1295 Ding Xi Road, Shanghai 200050, P. R. China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Pu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 1295 Ding Xi Road, Shanghai 200050, P. R. China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 1295 Ding Xi Road, Shanghai 200050, P. R. China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 1295 Ding Xi Road, Shanghai 200050, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Liangjing
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 1295 Ding Xi Road, Shanghai 200050, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1101-1584
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
keywords: aerogel; copper nanowires; one-pot method; piezoresistivity; tunable density