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Updated: Aug 17, 2025

Hybrid Printing for the Fabrication of Smart Sensors

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Published on: January 31, 2019

Surface Enhancement Using Black Coatings for Sensor Applications.

Martin Hruška¹, Joris More-Chevalier^1,2, Přemysl Fitl^1,2

¹Department of Physics and Measurements, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Technicka 5, 166 28 Prague, Czech Republic.

Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)

|December 11, 2022

Summary

Metal blacks enhance quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) gas sensor sensitivity by increasing electrode surface area. This easy-to-manufacture coating significantly boosts detection of analytes like ethanol vapor.

Keywords:

QCM sensors black aluminium black gold evaporation depositions nanostructured materials sensor applications sputtering depositions

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Area of Science:

Materials Science
Chemical Sensors
Nanotechnology

Background:

Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) resolution is critical for detecting low gas concentrations.
Enhanced QCM sensitivity requires increased electrode surface area.
Micro-structured materials have shown promise for improving QCM sensor performance.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the use of easy-to-manufacture metal blacks for enhancing QCM gas sensor sensitivity.
To evaluate the impact of nanoscale surface structuring on QCM sensor performance.
To assess the sensitivity improvement for water vapor and ethanol vapor detection.

Main Methods:

Deposition of black aluminum (B-Al) and black gold (B-Au) layers (280 nm thickness) onto QCM sensor electrodes.
Characterization of surface morphology, noting cauliflower-like structures and high surface roughness.
Testing QCM sensor response to water vapor and ethanol vapor at various concentrations.

Main Results:

Both B-Al and B-Au coatings significantly increased QCM sensor response (resonant frequency shift).
A distinct improvement in sensitivity was observed for metal black-coated QCMs compared to blank sensors.
The QCM coated with black gold exhibited approximately 10 times higher sensitivity to ethanol vapor.

Conclusions:

Easy-to-manufacture metal blacks, with their nanoscale structuring and high surface roughness, effectively enhance QCM gas sensor sensitivity.
The proposed metal black coatings improve sensitivity without significant negative impacts on resonance frequency stability or mechanical quality factor.
Black gold coatings show particular promise for highly sensitive detection of specific analytes like ethanol.