Nanostructured Insulated Electrodes: Fabrication and Characterization

Nanostructured insulated electrodes were fabricated via the self-assembly of AgNPs on conducting ITO substrates followed by the spin-coating of a thin insulating polymer layer. The electric field above the NPs was enhanced relative to that above the interparticle space. An extended Hudlet model for electric force microscopy was used to quantify the surface electric field with high resolution. The field strength was found to be about 10⁷ V/m and the field gradient about 10¹⁴ V/m² along the surface. Computational modeling based on finite element analysis and the Maxwell stress tensor was performed using COMSOL Multiphysics confirming the experimental results.