scholarly journals Low-Cost, Disposable, Flexible and Highly Reproducible Screen Printed SERS Substrates for the Detection of Various Chemicals

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Wu ◽  
Li Liu ◽  
Zhigao Dai ◽  
Juhua Liu ◽  
Shuanglei Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Ideal SERS substrates for sensing applications should exhibit strong signal enhancement, generate a reproducible and uniform response and should be able to fabricate in large-scale and low-cost. Herein, we demonstrate low-cost, highly sensitive, disposable and reproducible SERS substrates by means of screen printing Ag nanoparticles (NPs) on a plastic PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) substrates. While there are many complex methods for the fabrication of SERS substrates, screen printing is suitable for large-area fabrication and overcomes the uneven radial distribution. Using as-printed Ag substrates as the SERS platform, detection of various commonly known chemicals have been done. The SERS detection limit of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) is higher than the concentration of 1 × 10−10 M. The relative standard deviation (RSD) value for 784 points on the detection of R6G and Malachite green (MG) is less than 20% revealing a homogeneous SERS distribution and high reproducibility. Moreover, melamine (MA) is detected in fresh liquid-milk without additional pretreatment, which may accelerate the application of rapid on-line detection of MA in liquid milk. Our screen printing method highlights the use of large-scale printing strategies for the fabrication of well-defined functional nanostructures with applications well beyond the field of SERS sensing.

Micromachines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1027
Author(s):  
Jianjun Yang ◽  
Wei Zeng ◽  
Yaxin Li ◽  
Zichuan Yi ◽  
Guofu Zhou

Flexible transparent conductive thin films (TCFs) prepared from Silver nanowires (AgNWs) have attractive features of low cost, flexibility, and solution-processed, but the usual manufacturing methods could still be hard to be scaled up. In addition, large-scale/large-area fabrication process with industrialized potential is strongly needed. In this paper, the flexible TCFs with high stability are obtained via using screen printing method to print the AgNWs inks on a flexible and transparent substrate. The micro-structure of the AgNWs patterns is investigated by optical microscope and scanning electron microscope. Furthermore, the sheet resistance, light transmittance, and film thickness of the AgNWs patterns prepared under different conditions are characterized to explore the influence of different factors on its optical and electrical properties.


2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 30502
Author(s):  
Alessandro Fantoni ◽  
João Costa ◽  
Paulo Lourenço ◽  
Manuela Vieira

Amorphous silicon PECVD photonic integrated devices are promising candidates for low cost sensing applications. This manuscript reports a simulation analysis about the impact on the overall efficiency caused by the lithography imperfections in the deposition process. The tolerance to the fabrication defects of a photonic sensor based on surface plasmonic resonance is analysed. The simulations are performed with FDTD and BPM algorithms. The device is a plasmonic interferometer composed by an a-Si:H waveguide covered by a thin gold layer. The sensing analysis is performed by equally splitting the input light into two arms, allowing the sensor to be calibrated by its reference arm. Two different 1 × 2 power splitter configurations are presented: a directional coupler and a multimode interference splitter. The waveguide sidewall roughness is considered as the major negative effect caused by deposition imperfections. The simulation results show that plasmonic effects can be excited in the interferometric waveguide structure, allowing a sensing device with enough sensitivity to support the functioning of a bio sensor for high throughput screening. In addition, the good tolerance to the waveguide wall roughness, points out the PECVD deposition technique as reliable method for the overall sensor system to be produced in a low-cost system. The large area deposition of photonics structures, allowed by the PECVD method, can be explored to design a multiplexed system for analysis of multiple biomarkers to further increase the tolerance to fabrication defects.


2011 ◽  
Vol 186 ◽  
pp. 11-15
Author(s):  
Li Cao ◽  
Wen Chen ◽  
Jun Xiao

Video processing technology is regarded as a low-cost detection technology in complex environment. Because the placement layer is thin and the surface is complex that causes high detection error and high cost in laser measurement. Two problems must be solved before using it in large-scale composite structures automatic placement. One is to obtain the high-quality and stable image, and the other is to improve efficiency of image processing. In this paper, a method obtaining the high quality placement gap images was studied. It made use of the optical characteristics of composite material’s surface texture. And some parameters were determined by experiments. To reduce the calculation cost of image processing, a placement gap measurement method based on line scanning was also proposed here. The method was effective in our detection experiments on an actual workpiece.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1530 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bendavid ◽  
L. Wieczorek ◽  
R. Chai ◽  
J. S. Cooper ◽  
B. Raguse

ABSTRACTA large area nanogap electrode fabrication method combinig conventional lithography patterning with the of focused ion beam (FIB) is presented. Lithography and a lift-off process were used to pattern 50 nm thick platinum pads having an area of 300 μm × 300 μm. A range of 30-300 nm wide nanogaps (length from 300 μm to 10 mm ) were then etched using an FIB of Ga+ at an acceleration voltage of 30 kV at various beam currents. An investigation of Ga+ beam current ranging between 1-50 pA was undertaken to optimise the process for the current fabrication method. In this study, we used Monte Carlo simulation to calculate the damage depth in various materials by the Ga+. Calculation of the recoil cascades of the substrate atoms are also presented. The nanogap electrodes fabricated in this study were found to have empty gap resistances exceeding several hundred MΩ. A comparison of the gap length versus electrical resistance on glass substrates is presented. The results thus outline some important issues in low-conductance measurements. The proposed nanogap fabrication method can be extended to various sensor applications, such as chemical sensing, that employ the nanogap platform. This method may be used as a prototype technique for large-scale fabrication due to its simple, fast and reliable features.


Author(s):  
Jiang Zhao ◽  
Jiahao Gui ◽  
Jinsong Luo ◽  
Jing Gao ◽  
Caidong Zheng ◽  
...  

Abstract Graphene-based pressure sensors have received extensive attention in wearable devices. However, reliable, low-cost, and large-scale preparation of structurally stable graphene electrodes for flexible pressure sensors is still a challenge. Herein, for the first time, laser-induced graphene (LIG) powder are prepared into screen printing ink, and shape-controllable LIG patterned electrodes can be obtained on various substrates using a facile screen printing process, and a novel asymmetric pressure sensor composed of the resulting screen-printed LIG electrodes has been developed. Benefit from the 3D porous structure of LIG, the as-prepared flexible LIG screen-printed asymmetric pressure sensor has super sensing properties with a high sensitivity of 1.86 kPa−1, low detection limit of about 3.4 Pa, short response time, and long cycle durability. Such excellent sensing performances give our flexible asymmetric LIG screen-printed pressure sensor the ability to realize real-time detection of tiny body physiological movements (such as wrist pulse and pronunciation action). Besides, the integrated sensor array has a multi-touch function. This work could stimulate an appropriate approach to designing shape-controllable LIG screen-printed patterned electrodes on various flexible substrates to adapt the specific needs of fulfilling compatibility and modular integration for potential application prospects in wearable electronics.


Author(s):  
Yi Zheng ◽  
Zhi-Zhu He ◽  
Jun Yang ◽  
Jing Liu

The advancement of printed electronics technology has significantly facilitated the development of electronic engineering. However, so far there still remain big barriers to impede the currently available printing technologies from being extensively used. Many of the difficulties came from the factors like: complicated ink-configurations, high post-treatment temperature, poor conductivity in room temperature and extremely high cost and time consuming fabrication process. From an alternative strategy, our recently invented desktop liquid metal printer offered a flexible way to better address the above deficiencies. Through modifying the system developed in the authors’ lab, here we demonstrated the feasibility of the method in quickly and reliably printing out various large area electronic circuits. Particularly, the liquid metal ink made of GaIn24.5 alloy, with a high electrical resistivity of 2.98×10−7 Ω·m, can be rapidly printed on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) substrate with maximum sizes spanning from centimeter size to meter large. Most important of all, all these manufactures were achieved at an extremely low cost level which clearly shows the ubiquitous value of the liquid metal printer. To evaluate the working performance of the present electronics fabrication method, the electrical resistance and wire width of the printed circuits were investigated under multiple overprinting cycles. For practical illustration purpose, LED lighting conductive patterns which can serve as a functional electronic decoration art were fabricated on the flexible plastic substrate. The present work sets up an example for directly making large-scale ending consumer electronics via a high-efficiency and low-cost way.


2013 ◽  
Vol 805-806 ◽  
pp. 867-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Sheng Quan ◽  
Enze Zhou ◽  
Guang Chen ◽  
Xin Zhao

When the overhead transmission line is galloping, a variety of natural disasters occur on the role of the natural conditions, the vibration of conductor is one of the more serious harm to the power system. Over the past decade, as the construction of EHV and UHV, wire cross-section, tension, suspension height and span of overhead transmission lines are increasing, and hence the number of conductor vibration is significantly increased. Vibration in a large scale will led to frequent tripping or even broken line or tower collapses, which cause large area power failures and impact security and stability operation. Online monitoring method for overhead transmission line dancing is mostly needed to add additional equipment, however, once situated on the route environment overlying ice or high winds and other inclement weather, online monitoring is difficult to achieve. This paper presents a method, which is made correlation analysis based on the voltage and current acquired from both ends of the transmission lines, online monitoring of line galloping can be achieved.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (20) ◽  
pp. 5473-5481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chithra Parameswaran ◽  
Dipti Gupta

A single step, low cost, large area and shape scalable method of obtaining elastomer sponge is achieved through leavening agent autolysis with exceptional sensitivity tunability for real time sensing applications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adamos Christou ◽  
Fengyuan Liu ◽  
Ravinder Dahiya

AbstractPrinting is a promising method for the large-scale, high-throughput, and low-cost fabrication of electronics. Specifically, the contact printing approach shows great potential for realizing high-performance electronics with aligned quasi-1D materials. Despite being known for more than a decade, reports on a precisely controlled system to carry out contact printing are rare and printed nanowires (NWs) suffer from issues such as location-to-location and batch-to-batch variations. To address this problem, we present here a novel design for a tailor-made contact printing system with highly accurate control of printing parameters (applied force: 0–6 N ± 0.3%, sliding velocity: 0–200 mm/s, sliding distance: 0–100 mm) to enable the uniform printing of nanowires (NWs) aligned along 93% of the large printed area (1 cm2). The system employs self-leveling platforms to achieve optimal alignment between substrates, whereas the fully automated process minimizes human-induced variation. The printing dynamics of the developed system are explored on both rigid and flexible substrates. The uniformity in printing is carefully examined by a series of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and by fabricating a 5 × 5 array of NW-based photodetectors. This work will pave the way for the future realization of highly uniform, large-area electronics based on printed NWs.


2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 759-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Walczak ◽  
M. Sibiński

Abstract The paper presents a comparative analysis of two types of flexible temperature sensors, made of carbon-based nanostructures composites. These sensors were fabricated by a low-cost screen-printing method, which qualifies them to large scale, portable consumer electronic products. Results of examined measurements show the possibility of application for thick film devices, especially dedicated to wearable electronics, also known as a textronics. Apart from general characterisation, the influence of technological processes on specific sensor parameters were examined, particulary the value of the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and its stability during the device bending.


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