Giant piezoresistivity in polymer-derived amorphous SiAlCO ceramics

• Published in: Journal of materials science Vol. 51; no. 12; pp. 5646 - 5650
• Main Authors: Cao, Yejie, Yang, Xueping, Zhao, Ran, Chen, Yaohan, Li, Ni, An, Linan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.06.2016; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Amorphous materials; Carbon; Ceramic materials; Ceramics; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Gages; Graphene; High temperature; Materials Science; Nanostructure; Original Paper; Piezoresistivity; Polymer industry; Polymer Sciences; Polymers; Refractory materials; Sensors; Silicon carbide; Solid Mechanics; Temperature; Temperature dependence; Temperature sensors; Tetrahedra; Polymeric Precursor; Silicon Carbonitride; Gage Factor; Cold Isostatic Pressure; Silicone Resin
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-016-9866-y

The piezoresistive behavior of polymer-derived amorphous SiAlCO ceramic is studied in a temperature range of 25–300 °C. It is shown that the material exhibits a giant gage factor of 7000–16,000, much higher than that for any reported high-temperature materials. The result also reveals that the material exhibits a positive temperature-dependent piezoresistive stress coefficient within the temperature range. The unusual piezoresistivity of the material was attributed to the structure of the SiAlCO, which consists of highly disordered graphene-like carbon nanoclusters dispersed within an amorphous matrix comprising of SiC ₓ O₄₋ₓ tetrahedra. The huge piezoresistivity, together with the processibility and low-cost, make the material very promising for high-temperature sensor applications.