Chemical Sensors Based on Electrodeposited Metal Nanowires

加州大学欧文分校的Reginald M. Penner教授得到了化学系大分子、超分子和纳米化学项目的支持，研究金属纳米线的基本原理及其作为化学和生物传感器的用途。PI已经观察到银纳米线在暴露于氨蒸汽时电阻异常增加100-10,000%，当单原子层沉积在金纳米线表面时电阻增加70%。该提案的目标是在纳米尺度上获得对这种异常传导行为的基本理解，PI认为这是由于氧化物渗透到金属纳米线的晶界中。在获得的知识的指导下，将开发针对化学传感优化的单一人工晶界。这些小型化的结构将非常适合在芯片上的实验室分析系统中进行检测。这项跨学科的研究为学生在微加工，表面化学，电化学，固态物理，电子学和分析化学方面提供了很好的训练。来自代表性不足的少数民族的高中生将通过外展计划参与这项研究。

Professor Reginald M. Penner of the University of California, Irvine is supported by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry to investigate the fundamentals of metal nanowires and their use as chemical and biological sensors. The PI has observed an anomalous 100-10,000% increase in the resistance of silver nanowires upon exposure to ammonia vapor, and 70% increase when a single atomic layer is deposited on the surface of gold nanowires. The goal of this proposal is to gain fundamental understanding of this anomalous conduction behavior at nano dimensions, which the PI believes is due to the infiltration of oxides into grain boundaries on the metallic nanowires. Guided by the gained knowledge, single artificial grain boundaries that are optimized for chemical sensing will be developed. These miniaturized constructs will be ideally suited for detection within lab-on-a-chip analysis systems. This interdisciplinary research provides excellent training for students in microfabrication, surface chemistry, electrochemistry, solid-state physics, electronics, and analytical chemistry. High school students from underrepresented minorities will be involved in this research through an outreach plan.