Speaker
Summary
Thin films consisting of crosslinked gold nanoparticles received considerable attention during the last two decades. It was demonstrated that due to their unique electronic and electromechanical properties, these composites are promising candidates for the fabrication of resistive sensors for strain[1] or vapors.[2] Recently our group reported the facile and time-efficient fabrication of substrate-supported and freestanding films of dithiol-interlinked gold nanoparticles following a layer-by-layer spin-coating approach.[3] In this study[4] we demonstrate that the micromechanical properties of dithiol- interlinked gold nanoparticle membranes can be investigated by an atomic force microscopy based bulge test method. For this purpose, membranes were transferred onto substrates with circular orifices and a pressure difference was applied. The topography of the evolving membrane bulge formed at different pressures was mapped by means of intermittent contact mode atomic force microscopy. From the collected data, elastic and viscoelastic properties were extracted.
[1] T. Vossmeyer, C. Stolte, M. Ijeh, A. Kornowski, H. Weller, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2008, 18, 1611.
[2] N. Olichwer, E. W. Leib, A. H. Halfar, A. Petrov, T. Vossmeyer, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2012, 4, 6151.
[3] H. Schlicke, J. H. Schröder, M. Trebbin, A. Petrov, M. Ijeh, H. Weller, T. Vossmeyer, Nanotechnology 2011, 22, 305303.
[4] H. Schlicke, E. W. Leib, A. Petrov, J. H. Schröder, T. Vossmeyer, J. Phys. Chem. C, Article ASAP, DOI: 10.1021/jp4091969.
