Highly Sensitive Temperature Sensor: Ligand-Treated Ag Nanocrystal Thin Films on PDMS with Thermal Expansion Strategy

Highly sensitive temperature sensors are designed by exploiting the interparticle distance–dependent transport mechanism in nanocrystal (NC) thin films based on a thermal expansion strategy. The effect of ligands on the electronic, thermal, mechanical, and charge transport properties of silver (Ag) NC thin films on thermal expandable substrates of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) is investigated. While inorganic ligand-treated Ag NC thin films exhibit a low temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR), organic ligand-treated films exhibit extremely high TCR up to 0.5 K⁻¹, which is the highest TCR exhibited among nanomaterial-based temperature sensors to the best of the authors' knowledge. Structural and electronic characterizations, as well as finite element method simulation and transport modeling are conducted to determine the origin of this behavior. Finally, an all-solution based fabrication process is established to build Ag NC-based sensors and electrodes on PDMS to demonstrate their suitability as low-cost, high-performance attachable temperature sensors.