Multifunctional nano-structured silvers such as AgNPs, AgNWs, AgNFs, Ag super clusters, Ag nanoplates and Ag-decorated composites have shown great potential in the state-of-the-art technology fields. Usually, these nano-silvers were synthesized by the chemical method with the strict requirement for the reaction environment. Up to this point, the electric sensitivity and conductivity of Ag nanoparticles distributed in whole fibers are limited for the application at a smaller scale. Hence, considering the directional growth and assembly of Ag nanoparticles at one-dimensional scale as nano-sensitivity humidity sensor is an important topic in the nanoscale wearable electronics and energy.
In that paper, Dr. Xiaotong Zheng’s group developed a new synthesis method combining the electrospinning and in-situ UV irradiation at room temperature to fabricate the pair directed AgNLs arrays. From Ag+ to Ag0, three roles of the complexed template, field-transferred template and molecule-directed template in the solution blend, electrospinning and in-situ reduction process were found respectively. Compared with the conventional linear responded humidity sensor, the fabricated ABHS exhibited excellent nano-sensitivity at low RH and special response due to the nano-structured gaps in the contiguous AgNLs. The relationship between property and mechanism of the one-dimension AgNLs was systematically elucidated.
The first author of this paper is Jing He as a master's student, her tutor is Dr. Xiaotong Zheng. This work acknowledges Prof. Weiqing Yang and his group.
For more details of this interesting work, you can click this link:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.106748
