Synthesis of metal oxide composite nanosheets and their pressure sensing properties

This study presents the synthesis of metal oxides composite nanosheets (oxides of cobalt, zinc and iron) and their pressure sensing properties. A transducer has been fabricated to directly measure the resistance—pressure and impedance—pressure relationships of pristine nanopowder. At the initial stage, a nanopowder sample of 10 mm diameter and 1 mm height was placed in the transducer and by applying pressure of up to 8.15 kN/m2; the DC resistance and the impedance are reduced by 44% on average. It can be explained by the densification of the samples and a decrease in porosity due to the effect of pressure. It was also observed that the DC resistance increases with time and saturated within 8 min. It is considered that this phenomenon is based on the effect of displacement currents of bound charges. The dependences of the impedance phase (θ) on frequency and pressure have also been investigated.