Cantilever bending based on humidity-actuated mesoporous silica/silicon bilayers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

External Organisational units

  • Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung
  • Technische Universität Graz

Abstract

We use a soft templating approach in combination with evaporation induced self-assembly to prepare mesoporous films containing cylindrical pores with elliptical cross-section on an ordered pore lattice. The film is deposited on silicon-based commercial atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers using dip coating. This bilayer cantilever is mounted in a humidity controlled AFM, and its deflection is measured as a function of relative humidity. We also investigate a similar film on bulk silicon substrate using grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS), in order to determine nanostructural parameters of the film as well as the water-sorption-induced deformation of the ordered mesopore lattice. The strain of the mesoporous layer is related to the cantilever deflection using simple bilayer bending theory. We also develop a simple quantitative model for cantilever deflection which only requires cantilever geometry and nanostructural parameters of the porous layer as input parameters.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)637-644
Number of pages8
JournalBeilstein journal of nanotechnology
Volume7.2016
Issue numberApril
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Apr 2016