In this study, proton-conducting nanocomposite plasticized polymer electrolytes based on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) complexed with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (HCF3SO3) plasticized with propylene carbonate (PC) and dispersed with nanosized fumed silica (SiO2) have been prepared through the solution-casting technique. The ionic conductivity of electrolytes was measured as a function of acid, plasticizer and fumed silica concentrations. A maximum ionic conductivity of 3·31 × 10−4 S/cm for PMMA + 10 wt% trifluoromethanesulfonic acid polymer electrolytes and 5·37 × 10−3 S/cm for plasticized polymer electrolytes containing 50 wt% PC has been observed at room temperature. The viscosity percolation threshold for nanocomposite polymer electrolytes was observed at 3 wt% concentration of fumed silica with ionic conductivity of 8·84 × 10−3 S/cm at room temperature. Fourier transform infrared studies suggested the complexation of constituents of the electrolytes, formation of ion aggregates in unplasticized polymer electrolytes and dissociation of ion aggregates with the addition of the plasticizer in plasticized polymer electrolytes. Differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis studies proved that these electrolytes are thermally stable only up to 130°C. The conductivity shows negligible change with temperature from 30 to 130°C and time of 30 d, which is desirable for their use in practical applications such solid-state batteries, fuel cells, sensors and supercapacitors.

This paper presents an extensive mathematical study of a proposed nanogap-embedded dopant-segregated (DS) Schottky barrier (SB) cylindrical gate all-around (CGAA) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) of negatively/positively charged and neutral species observed by numerical simulation using an Atlas three-dimensional device simulator for electrical and label-free detection of bio/chemical (DNA, pH) and neutral species (protein) respectively as a nanosensor in the biomedical field at high sensitivity for direct electronic readout. This is the first time that the use of a nanogap-embedded DS-SB-CGAA MOSFET as a bio/chemical sensor has been reported. The threshold voltage (V th) shift and change in current are considered as sensing metrics to detect biological or chemical species when they are immobilized in the carvel-built region. The shift in on current (I on) of the nanogap-embedded DS-SB-CGAA MOSFET is also taken as a sensing metric, and better performance is observed compared to a conventional SB-CGAA MOSFET sensor. It is advantageous in terms of its low power/energy consumption as well as from the point of view of integration with the forthcoming silicon-based lab-on-chip systems due to the compatibility with the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor process.