Chemical and Temperature Sensors Based on Functionalized Reduced Graphene Oxide

In this work, we investigated the functionalization of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with 2-(dodecen-1-yl) succinic anhydride (TPSA) to increase the rGO effective interactions with organic solvents both in liquid and vapor phases. Thermogravimetric analysis, STEM, XPS, FTIR-ATR, and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the effective functionalization of rGO with about the 30 wt% of grafted TPSA without affecting the structural characteristics of graphene but successfully enhancing its dispersibility in the selected solvent except for the apolar hexane. Solid TPSA-rGO dispersions displayed a reproducible semiconducting (activated) electrical transport with decreased resistance when heated from 20 °C to 60 °C and with a negative temperature coefficient of 10−3 K−1, i.e., comparable in absolute value with temperature coefficient in metals. It is worth noting that the same solid dispersions showed electrical resistance variation upon exposure to vapors with a detection limit in the order of 10 ppm and sensitivity α of about 10−4 ppm−1.

Piezoresistive characterization of graphene/metakaolin based geopolymeric mortar composites

Geopolymers are recently developed ceramic materials produced by alkaline activation of thermally activated natural materials such as metakaolin. Due to their promising application in the field of structural components, the presence of a piezoresistive effect is a very useful property for such materials because it allows the real time self-monitoring of civil infrastructures. As observed for cement-based materials, the use of a conductive filler can enhance the piezoresistive response by avoiding measuring issues related to the electrical polarization. In this work we present preliminary results about the piezoresistive characterization of a metakaolin based geopolymeric mortar filled with graphene nanoplatelets. Composites with different graphene weight concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.5, 1%) were produced and the gauge factor (the ratio between the electrical resistance variation and the imposed strain) was calculated by means of dynamic four-probe resistance measurements. Very high gauge factor values (in the range of 1000-2000) were recorded and they can vary according to the dispersion quality of the graphene nanoplatelets into the ceramic matrix.

Thin Film Microcircuit Preparation in a Diamond Anvil Cell

An effective and convenient method about molybdenum metal thin film microcircuit was developed on diamond anvil cell(DAC) under high pressure. Alumina film was used as the protective layer and sputtered on DAC. By using this method, we studied the electrical resistance variation about nanoparticles ZnS power up to 36GPa. The reversible phase transition had been reflected clearly by the electrical resistance measurements with sample.

Microstructure and Properties of Cu-3.2Ni-0.75Si-0.3Zn Alloy for Lead Frame

The effect of aging temperature and aging time on properties of Cu-3.2Ni-0.75Si-0.3Zn alloy were studied. The alloys were isochronally or isothermally aged after solution treatment. The cold rolling prior to the aging treatment was used to increase the precipitation rate .The microstructure of the alloy was studied by means of transmission electron microscope (TEM). The results show that the fine and dispersed precipitates are fully coherent with the Cu matrix and make the alloy possesses higher hardness and conductivity after the alloy was solution at 1173K and then aged at different time. The precipitates responsible for the age-hardening effect was Ni2Si.The transformation kinetics were studied by analyzing the electrical resistance variation of the solution Cu-3.2Ni-0.75Si-0.3Zn alloy in the process of aging.