This study presents a novel flexible strain sensor for real-time strain sensing. The material for strain sensing is single-walled carbon nanonets, grown using the alcohol catalytic chemical vapor deposition method, that were encapsulated between two layers of Parylene-C, with a polyimide layer as the sensing surface. All of the micro-fabrication was compatible with the standard IC process. Experimental results indicated that the gauge factor of the proposed strain sensor was larger than 4.5, approximately 2.0 times greater than those of commercial gauges. The results also demonstrated that the gauge factor is small when the growth time of SWCNNs is lengthier, and the gauge factor is large when the line width of the serpentine pattern of SWCNNs is small.
Herein we report on the selective synthesis and direct growth of nanostructures using an aqueous chemical growth route. Specifically, Al-doped ZnO (AZO) nanoflakes (NFs) are vertically grown on indium tin oxide (ITO) coated flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheets at low temperature and ambient environment. The morphological, optical, and electrical properties of the NFs are investigated as a function of the Al content. Furthermore, these AZO-NFs are integrated into perovskite solar devices as the electron transport layer (ETL) and the fabricated devices are tested for photovoltaic performance. It was determined that the doping of AZO-NFs significantly increases the performance metrics of the solar cells, mainly by increasing the short-circuit current of the devices. The observed enhancement is primarily attributed to the improved conductivity of the doped AZO-NF, which facilitates charge separation and reduces recombination. Further, our flexible solar cells fabricated through this low temperature process demonstrate an acceptable reproducibility and stability when exposed to a mechanical bending test.
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