Transparent Zinc Oxide Temperature Sensor with Silver Nanoparticles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional temperature sensors are costly, non-transparent, and difficult to miniaturize and mass-produce, and oxide materials used for temperature sensing are not suitable for flexible devices due to their properties at high temperatures.
Innovation Solution
A temperature sensing device with layers of zinc oxide doped with aluminum oxide and silver nano-particles, where the silver nano-particles are diluted to enhance sensitivity, allowing for a flexible and transparent or semi-transparent design suitable for wearable devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If standard temperature sensors are manufactured using platinum, gold, or single-crystalline silicon, then temperature sensing accuracy is improved, but manufacturing cost increases and transparency is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameters from conventional platinum/gold/silicon to zinc oxide-based transparent materials, altering both composition and structural parameters to achieve cost reduction while maintaining sensing functionality through controlled doping and nano-particle integration
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material structures combining zinc oxide with aluminum oxide nanoparticles and silver nano-particles, creating a multi-component system that leverages the transparency and cost-effectiveness of zinc oxide while enhancing sensing performance through the complementary properties of the nano-particle additives
2Illumination intensity
If standard temperature sensors are made transparent through organic material casting and drying, then transparency is achieved, but device size cannot be reduced and mass production becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical organic material casting and drying process with a chemical solution-based approach using zinc oxide colloidal suspensions that can be deposited and sintered into transparent films, eliminating the need for complex mold-based manufacturing while enabling miniaturization and mass production
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the manufacturing parameters from high-temperature organic processing to lower-temperature sintering of zinc oxide-based materials, allowing for simplified production processes that are more suitable for mass manufacturing while maintaining transparency
3Ease of manufacture
If oxide materials are used for temperature sensing to reduce cost and improve transparency, then manufacturing cost decreases and transparency increases, but flexibility is lost due to high-temperature material properties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates flexible temperature sensing devices by forming thin film structures of zinc oxide-based materials that can be deposited on flexible substrates, allowing the rigid oxide material to be conformally applied to flexible forms while maintaining its temperature sensing properties through controlled thin-film morphology
Solution Approach 2:
The patent develops composite structures combining zinc oxide with flexible substrates and incorporating aluminum oxide and silver nano-particles, creating a multi-phase material system that maintains the high-temperature stability and transparency of oxide materials while the overall composite structure provides flexibility for wearable applications
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides superior temperature sensing ability, cost-effective mass production, and flexibility, enabling precise temperature monitoring in wearable devices.
Implementation Method 1
a first layer including a temperature sensing material in which a resistance is varied depending on a temperature
Implementation Method 2
a second layer including silver nano-particles... The silver nano-particles of the second layer can be diluted with a dilution ratio of about 1000:1 to about 10:1
Data Source
AI summary
A temperature sensing device, temperature sensor using the same and wearable device having the same. In one aspect, the temperature sensing device includes a first layer formed of a temperature sensing material. The resistance of the temperature sensing material is configured to vary in response to changes in temperature. The temperature sensing device further includes a second layer comprising silver nano-particles and a third layer formed of the temperature sensing material. The second layer is interposed between the first and third layers.