We undertake electrochemical exfoliation of a 2D semiconductor platinum diselenide, PtSe2 and investigate the piezoresistance response of a solution-processed network. Due to the large PtSe2 aspect ratios, exceeding 300, we achieve conformal flake-to-flake junctions and good inter-flake electrical coupling. Our measured piezoresistive gauge factor is negative (-5.45), consistent with the intrinsic negative gauge factor of PtSe2. This negative network gauge factor implies that strain is transferred from the substrate to the nanosheets. However, detailed modelling shows that the strain transferred to the nanosheets is much smaller than the applied strain, showing that conformal junctions do not necessarily lead to good mechanical coupling between nanosheets. Our model implies that this gauge factor is consistent with a strain transfer efficiency of 8.5%. Our strain sensor also demonstrated a cyclic response for over 1000 cycles, enabling the sensor to be used in future flexible optoelectronics applications.

Department of Inorganic Chemistry University of Chemistry and Technology Prague Technická 5 Prague 6 166 28 Czech Republic

Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología del Carbono INCAR CSIC C Francisco Pintado Fe 26 Oviedo 33011 Spain

School of Chemistry CRANN and AMBER Research Centres Trinity College Dublin Dublin 2 Ireland

School of Physics CRANN and AMBER Research Centres Trinity College Dublin Dublin 2 Ireland

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Fiorillo A. S. Critello C. D. Pullano S. A. Theory, technology and applications of piezoresistive sensors: A review. Sens. Actuators, A. 2018;281:156–175. doi: 10.1016/j.sna.2018.07.006. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2018.07.006 DOI

Lugstein A. Steinmair M. Steiger A. Kosina H. Bertagnolli E. Anomalous piezoresistance effect in ultrastrained silicon nanowires. Nano Lett. 2010;10(8):3204–3208. doi: 10.1021/nl102179c. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl102179c PubMed DOI

Little E. and Finlay J., Perspectives of strain measurement techniques, in Strain measurement in biomechanics, Springer, 1992, pp. 1–13

Lu Y.-C. Chiang C.-Y. Chen Y.-C. Lin Y.-C. Ono T. Tsai Y.-C. Study and fabrication of a flexible Zr-based metallic glass thin film strain gauge. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 2020;59:SIIG10. doi: 10.35848/1347-4065/ab7f1b. https://dx.doi.org/10.35848/1347-4065/ab7f1b DOI

Yan W. Fuh H. R. Lv Y. Chen K. Q. Tsai T. Y. Wu Y. R. Shieh T. H. Hung K. M. Li J. Zhang D. et al., Giant gauge factor of Van der Waals material based strain sensors. Nat. Commun. 2021;12(1):2018. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22316-8. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22316-8 PubMed DOI PMC

Torrisi F. Carey T. Graphene, related two-dimensional crystals and hybrid systems for printed and wearable electronics. Nano Today. 2018;23:73–96. doi: 10.1016/j.nantod.2018.10.009. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nantod.2018.10.009 DOI

Uddin M. M. Kabir M. H. Ali M. A. Hossain M. M. Khandaker M. U. Mandal S. Arifutzzaman A. Jana D. Graphene-like emerging 2D materials: recent progress, challenges and future outlook. RSC Adv. 2023;13(47):33336–33375. doi: 10.1039/D3RA04456D. https://dx.doi.org/10.1039/D3RA04456D PubMed DOI PMC

Huang M. Pascal T. A. Kim H. Goddard W. A. Greer J. R. Electronic–mechanical coupling in graphene from in situ nanoindentation experiments and multiscale atomistic simulations. Nano Lett. 2011;11(3):1241–1246. doi: 10.1021/nl104227t. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl104227t PubMed DOI

Smith A. D. Niklaus F. Paussa A. Schroder S. Fischer A. C. Sterner M. Wagner S. Vaziri S. Forsberg F. Esseni D. et al., Piezoresistive Properties of Suspended Graphene Membranes under Uniaxial and Biaxial Strain in Nanoelectromechanical Pressure Sensors. ACS Nano. 2016;10(11):9879–9886. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.6b02533. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.6b02533 PubMed DOI PMC

Wu W. Wang L. Li Y. Zhang F. Lin L. Niu S. Chenet D. Zhang X. Hao Y. Heinz T. F. et al., Piezoelectricity of single-atomic-layer MoS2 for energy conversion and piezotronics. Nature. 2014;514(7523):470–474. doi: 10.1038/nature13792. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13792 PubMed DOI

Manzeli S. Allain A. Ghadimi A. Kis A. Piezoresistivity and Strain-induced Band Gap Tuning in Atomically Thin MoS2. Nano Lett. 2015;15(8):5330–5335. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b01689. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b01689 PubMed DOI

Tsai M. Y. Tarasov A. Hesabi Z. R. Taghinejad H. Campbell P. M. Joiner C. A. Adibi A. Vogel E. M. Flexible MoS2 Field-Effect Transistors for Gate-Tunable Piezoresistive Strain Sensors. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 2015;7(23):12850–12855. doi: 10.1021/acsami.5b02336. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b02336 PubMed DOI

Datye I. M. Daus A. Grady R. W. Brenner K. Vaziri S. Pop E. Strain-Enhanced Mobility of Monolayer MoS(2) Nano Lett. 2022;22(20):8052–8059. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c01707. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c01707 PubMed DOI

Zhu M. Li J. Inomata N. Toda M. Ono T. Vanadium-doped molybdenum disulfide film-based strain sensors with high gauge factor. Appl. Phys. Express. 2019;12(1):015003. doi: 10.7567/1882-0786/aaf5c4. https://dx.doi.org/10.7567/1882-0786/aaf5c4 DOI

Mohammad Haniff M. A. S. Muhammad Hafiz S. Wahid K. A. A. Endut Z. Lee H. W. Bien D. C. Azid I. A. Abdullah M. Z. Huang N. M. Rahman S. A. Piezoresistive effects in controllable defective HFTCVD graphene-based flexible pressure sensor. Sci. Rep. 2015;5:14751. doi: 10.1038/srep14751. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep14751 PubMed DOI PMC

Nicolosi V. Chhowalla M. Kanatzidis M. G. Strano M. S. Coleman J. N. Liquid Exfoliation of Layered Materials. Science. 2013;340(6139) doi: 10.1126/science.1226419. https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1226419 DOI

Pinilla S. Coelho J. Li K. Liu J. Nicolosi V. Two-dimensional material inks. Nat. Rev. Mater. 2022;7(9):717–735. doi: 10.1038/s41578-022-00448-7. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41578-022-00448-7 DOI

Carey T. Maughan J. Doolan L. Caffrey E. Garcia J. Liu S. Kaur H. Ilhan C. Seyedin S. Coleman J. N. Knot Architecture for Biocompatible and Semiconducting 2D Electronic Fiber Transistors. Small Methods. 2024;8(10):e2301654. doi: 10.1002/smtd.202301654. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smtd.202301654 PubMed DOI

Carey T. Alhourani A. Tian R. Seyedin S. Arbab A. Maughan J. Šiller L. Horvath D. Kelly A. Kaur H. et al., Cyclic production of biocompatible few-layer graphene ink with in-line shear-mixing for inkjet-printed electrodes and Li-ion energy storage. npj 2D Mater. Appl. 2022;6(1):3. doi: 10.1038/s41699-021-00279-0. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41699-021-00279-0 DOI

Caffrey E. Garcia J. R. O'Suilleabhain D. Gabbett C. Carey T. Coleman J. N. Quantifying the Piezoresistive Mechanism in High-Performance Printed Graphene Strain Sensors. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 2022;14(5):7141–7151. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c21623. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c21623 PubMed DOI PMC

Garcia J. R. McCrystal M. Horváth D. Kaur H. Carey T. Coleman J. N. Tuneable Piezoresistance of Graphene–Based 2D:2D Nanocomposite Networks. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2023;33(20):2214855. doi: 10.1002/adfm.202214855. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202214855 DOI

Caffrey E. Carey T. Doolan L. Dawson A. Coleman E. Sofer Z. Cassidy O. Gabbett C. Coleman J. N. Using Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy to Separately Quantify the Effect of Strain on Nanosheet and Junction Resistance in Printed Nanosheet Networks. Small. 2025;21(5):e2406864. doi: 10.1002/smll.202406864. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smll.202406864 PubMed DOI PMC

Wagner S. Yim C. McEvoy N. Kataria S. Yokaribas V. Kuc A. Pindl S. Fritzen C. P. Heine T. Duesberg G. S. Lemme M. C. Highly Sensitive Electromechanical Piezoresistive Pressure Sensors Based on Large-Area Layered PtSe(2) Films. Nano Lett. 2018;18(6):3738–3745. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b00928. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b00928 PubMed DOI PMC

Szydłowska B. M. Hartwig O. Tywoniuk B. Hartman T. Stimpel-Lindner T. Sofer Z. McEvoy N. Duesberg G. S. Backes C. Spectroscopic thickness and quality metrics for PtSe2 layers produced by top-down and bottom-up techniques. 2D Mater. 2020;7(4) doi: 10.1088/2053-1583/aba9a0. DOI

Cho Y. S. Rhee D. Lee J. Jung S. Y. Eom J. Mazanek V. Wu B. Kang T. Baek S. Choi H. et al., Electronic and electrocatalytic applications based on solution–processed two–dimensional platinum diselenide with thickness–dependent electronic properties. EcoMat. 2023;5(8) doi: 10.1002/eom2.12358. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eom2.12358 DOI

Lee K. Szydlowska B. M. Hartwig O. Synnatschke K. Tywoniuk B. Hartman T. Tomasevic-Ilic T. Gabbett C. P. Coleman J. N. Sofer Z. et al., Highly conductive and long-term stable films from liquid-phase exfoliated platinum diselenide. J. Mater. Chem. C. 2023;11(2):593–599. doi: 10.1039/D2TC03889G. https://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d2tc03889g DOI

Biccai S. Boland C. S. O'Driscoll D. P. Harvey A. Gabbett C. O'Suilleabhain D. R. Griffin A. J. Li Z. Young R. J. Coleman J. N. Negative Gauge Factor Piezoresistive Composites Based on Polymers Filled with MoS(2) Nanosheets. ACS Nano. 2019;13(6):6845–6855. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.9b01613. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.9b01613 PubMed DOI

Johnson O. K. Kaschner G. C. Mason T. A. Fullwood D. T. Hansen G. Optimization of nickel nanocomposite for large strain sensing applications. Sens. Actuators, A. 2011;166(1):40–47. doi: 10.1016/j.sna.2010.12.022. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2010.12.022 DOI

Zhao M. Casiraghi C. Parvez K. Electrochemical exfoliation of 2D materials beyond graphene. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2024;53(6):3036–3064. doi: 10.1039/D3CS00815K. https://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d3cs00815k PubMed DOI

Carey T. Cassidy O. Synnatschke K. Caffrey E. Garcia J. Liu S. Kaur H. Kelly A. G. Munuera J. Gabbett C. et al., High-Mobility Flexible Transistors with Low-Temperature Solution-Processed Tungsten Dichalcogenides. ACS Nano. 2023;17(3):2912–2922. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.2c11319. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.2c11319 PubMed DOI PMC

Kelly A. G. O'Suilleabhain D. Gabbett C. Coleman J. N. The electrical conductivity of solution-processed nanosheet networks. Nat. Rev. Mater. 2021;7(3):217–234. doi: 10.1038/s41578-021-00386-w. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41578-021-00386-w DOI

Gabbett C. Kelly A. G. Coleman E. Doolan L. Carey T. Synnatschke K. Liu S. Dawson A. O'Suilleabhain D. Munuera J. et al., Understanding how junction resistances impact the conduction mechanism in nano-networks. Nat. Commun. 2024;15(1):4517. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-48614-5. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-48614-5 PubMed DOI PMC

Neilson J. Avery M. P. Derby B. Tiled Monolayer Films of 2D Molybdenum Disulfide Nanoflakes Assembled at Liquid/Liquid Interfaces. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 2020;12(22):25125–25134. doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c03794. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c03794 PubMed DOI PMC

Gong Y. Lin Z. Chen Y. X. Khan Q. Wang C. Zhang B. Nie G. Xie N. Li D. Two-Dimensional Platinum Diselenide: Synthesis, Emerging Applications, and Future Challenges. Nano-Micro Lett. 2020;12(1):174. doi: 10.1007/s40820-020-00515-0. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40820-020-00515-0 PubMed DOI PMC

Tharrault M. Desgué E. Carisetti D. Plaçais B. Voisin C. Legagneux P. Baudin E. Raman spectroscopy of monolayer to bulk PtSe2 exfoliated crystals. 2D Mater. 2024;11(2):025011. doi: 10.1088/2053-1583/ad1e79. DOI

Yan M. Wang E. Zhou X. Zhang G. Zhang H. Zhang K. Yao W. Lu N. Yang S. Wu S. High quality atomically thin PtSe2 films grown by molecular beam epitaxy. 2D Mater. 2017;4(4):045015. doi: 10.1088/2053-1583/aa8919. DOI

Zhang K. Wang M. Zhou X. Wang Y. Shen S. Deng K. Peng H. Li J. Lai X. Zhang L. Growth of large scale PtTe, PtTe 2 and PtSe 2 films on a wide range of substrates. Nano Res. 2021;14:1663–1667. doi: 10.1007/s12274-020-2942-2. DOI

Villaos R. A. B. Crisostomo C. P. Huang Z.-Q. Huang S.-M. Padama A. A. B. Albao M. A. Lin H. Chuang F.-C. Thickness dependent electronic properties of Pt dichalcogenides. npj 2D Mater. Appl. 2019;3(1):2. doi: 10.1038/s41699-018-0085-z. DOI

An C. Chen X. Zhou Y. Zhou Y. Zhang B. Chen C. Yuan Y. Zhang R. Zhang L. Zhu X. Yang Z. Structural, vibrational and electrical properties of type-II Dirac semimetal PtSe(2) under high pressure. J. Phys.:Condens. Matter. 2019;31(41):415402. doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/ab315e. https://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-648X/ab315e PubMed DOI

Zeng S. Zhao M. Li F. Yang Z. Wu H. Tan C. Sun Q. Yang L. Lei L. Wang Z. Crystalline Orientation–Tunable Growth of Hexagonal and Tetragonal 2H– PtSe2 Single–Crystal Flakes. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2024;34(6):2308681. doi: 10.1002/adfm.202308681. DOI

Carey T., Synnatschke K., Ghosh G., Anzi L., Caffrey E., Coleman E., Lin C., Dawson A., Liu S., Wells R., DOI

Window A. L. and Holister G. S., Strain gauge technology; 1982

Lukas S., Rademacher N., Cruces S., Gross M., Desgué E., Heiserer S., Dominik N., Prechtl M., Hartwig O. and Coileáin C.Ó PubMed PMC

Boland C. S. Coileáin C. Ó. Wagner S. McManus J. B. Cullen C. P. Lemme M. C. Duesberg G. S. McEvoy N. PtSe2 grown directly on polymer foil for use as a robust piezoresistive sensor. 2D Mater. 2019;6(4):045029. doi: 10.1088/2053-1583/ab33a1. DOI

Gabbett C. Kelly A. G. Coleman E. Doolan L. Carey T. Synnatschke K. Liu S. Dawson A. O'Suilleabhain D. Munuera J. et al., Understanding how junction resistances impact the conduction mechanism in nano-networks. Nat. Commun. 2024;15(1):4517. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-48614-5. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-48614-5 PubMed DOI PMC

Gong L. Young R. J. Kinloch I. A. Riaz I. Jalil R. Novoselov K. S. Optimizing the Reinforcement of Polymer-Based Nanocomposites by Graphene. ACS Nano. 2012;6(3):2086–2095. doi: 10.1021/nn203917d. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nn203917d PubMed DOI