Morphological and Electrical Properties of Stretched Nanoparticle Layers

To examine perspectives of nanoparticle films in the role of active elements in strain sensors, morphological and electrical properties of self-assembled Au nanoparticle monolayer prepared by modified Langmuir-Schaefer technique onto supporting Mylar foil were studied under elongation. Along the probing of electrical response (characterized by the gauge factor of about 60), the small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) characterization assessed an average interparticle distance change, which was shown to vary proportionally to the substrate elongation. The approach allowed to unambiguously address the mechanism of the deformation-resistivity transduction.