Advanced piezoresistance of extended metal/insulator core shell nanoparticle assemblies

Assembled metal/insulator nanoparticles with a core/shell geometry provide access to materials containing a large number (>106) of tunneling barriers. We demonstrate the production of ceramic coated metal nanoparticles exhibiting an exceptional pressure sensitive conductivity. We further show that graphene bi- and trilayers on 20 nm copper nanoparticles are insulating in such core/shell geometry and show a similar pressure dependent conductivity. This demonstrates that core/shell metal/insulator assemblies offer a route to alternative sensing materials.