A Silicon Carbonitride Ceramic with Anomalously High Piezoresistivity

Abstract

The piezoresistive behavior of a silicon carbonitride ceramic derived from a polymer precursor is investigated under a uniaxial compressive loading condition. The electric conductivity has been measured as a function of the applied stress along both longitudinal and transverse directions. The gauge factor of the materials was then calculated from the data at different stress levels. The results show that the material exhibits an extremely high piezoresistive coefficient along both directions, ranging from 1000 to 4000, which are much higher than any existing ceramic material. The results also reveal that the gauge factor decreases significantly with increasing applied stress. A theoretical model based on the tunneling–percolation mechanism has been developed to explain the stress dependence of the gauge factor. The unique piezoresistive behavior is attributed to the unique self‐assembled nanodomain structure of the material.

Giant piezoresistivity of polymer-derived ceramics at high temperatures

“…Recently they were shown to have giant gage factors for piezoresistivity at room temperature. 12,13 Such functional properties of the PDCs are sensitive to their composition and processing and, therefore, it would be possible to tailor them for specific applications. The PDCs are also attractive for multifunctional applications because they are processed from the polymer route at low temperatures (in this respect they are unusual since conventional ceramics must be processed at a temperature that is higher than their service temperature).…”

Frequency-dependent conductive behavior of polymer-derived amorphous silicon carbonitride

“…Compared to polycrystalline SiC-and Si 3 N 4 -based ceramics prepared by powder processing, PDCs possess many unusual and superior properties, including excellent stability against high-temperature decomposition and creep [1][2][3], outstanding oxidation and corrosion resistance [4][5][6], high temperature semiconducting behavior up to 1300°C [7,8], and extremely high piezoresistive effect [9][10][11]. These properties, combined with the direct polymer-to-ceramic process, make PDCs very promising for applications in ceramic fibers [12], ceramic matrix composites [13], energy storage [14], porous components [15], and high-temperature micro-sensors [16,17].…”

High-temperature piezoresistive C / SiOC sensors

“…However, commercially available piezoresistive sensors, which are usually based on semiconductors or polymer composites, are limited by their low thermal stability in air (Kanda and Suzuki, 1991). Recently, polymer-derived ceramics (PDCs) such as silicon oxycarbides (C / SiOC) or silicon carbo(oxy)nitrides (C / SiCN, C / SiOCN) have been shown to combine piezoresistivity (Riedel et al, 2010;Zhang et al, 2008, Terauds et al, 2010 with outstanding temperature and oxidation stability (Riedel et al, 1995(Riedel et al, , 1996. Hence, they are promising candidates for future high-temperature pressure sensors.…”