This review paper encompasses a detailed study of semiconductor metal oxide (SMO) gas sensors. It provides for a detailed comparison of SMO gas sensors with other gas sensors, especially for ammonia gas sensing. Different parameters which affect the performance (sensitivity, selectivity and stability) of SMO gas sensors are discussed here under. This paper also gives an insight about the dopant or impurity induced variations in the SMO materials used for gas sensing. It is concluded that dopants enhance the properties of SMOs for gas sensing applications by changing their microstructure and morphology, activation energy, electronic structure or band gap of the metal oxides. In some cases, dopants create defects in SMOs by generating oxygen vacancy or by forming solid solutions. These defects enhance the gas sensing properties. Different nanostructures (nanowires, nanotubes, heterojunctions), other than nanopowders have also been studied in this review. At the end, examples of SMOs are given to illustrate the potential use of different SMO materials for gas sensing.

Semiconductor metal oxide gas sensors: A review

Sensor technology has an important effect on many aspects in our society, and has gained much progress, propelled by the development of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Current research efforts are directed toward developing high-performance gas sensors with low operating temperature at low fabrication costs. A gas sensor working at room temperature is very appealing as it provides very low power consumption and does not require a heater for high-temperature operation, and hence simplifies the fabrication of sensor devices and reduces the operating cost. Nanostructured materials are at the core of the development of any room-temperature sensing platform. The most important advances with regard to fundamental research, sensing mechanisms, and application of nanostructured materials for room-temperature conductometric sensor devices are reviewed here. Particular emphasis is given to the relation between the nanostructure and sensor properties in an attempt to address structure-property correlations. Finally, some future research perspectives and new challenges that the field of room-temperature sensors will have to address are also discussed.

Nanostructured Materials for Room-Temperature Gas Sensors

Polyaniline nanostructures and the role of aniline oligomers in their formation

https://cyberleninka.org/article/n/1272461.pdf

Synthesis and characterization of conducting polyaniline nanocomposites containing ZnO nanorods

Epoxy/polyaniline–ZnO nanorods hybrid nanocomposite coatings: Synthesis, characterization and corrosion protection performance of conducting paints

Thin films of tin oxide-intercalated polyaniline nanocomposite have been deposited at room temperature, through solution route technique. The as-grown films were studied for some of the useful physicochemical properties, making use of XRD, FTIR, SEM, etc. and optical methods. XRD studies showed peak broadening and the peak positions shift from standard values, indicating presence of tin oxide in nanoparticles form in the polyaniline (PANI) matrix. FTIR study shows presence of the Sn–O–Sn vibrational peak and characteristic vibrational peaks of PANI. Study of SEM micrograph revealed that the composite particles have irregular shape and size with micellar templates of PANI around them. AFM images show topographical features of the nanocomposite similar to SEM images but at higher resolution. Optical absorbance studies show shifting of the characteristics peaks for PANI, which may be due to presence of tin oxide in PANI matrix. On exposure to ammonia gas (100–500 ppm in air) at room temperature, it was found that the PANI film resistance increases, while that of the nanocomposite (PANI + SnO2) film decreases from the respective unexposed value. These changes on removal of ammonia gas are reversible in nature, and the composite films showed good sensitivity with relatively faster response/recovery time. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Studies on tin oxide-intercalated polyaniline nanocomposite for ammonia gas sensing applications

Polyaniline thin films, doped with an inorganic acid (HCl), on glass and Si substrates were directly synthesized by an in situ polymerization technique. Studies on the surface morphology as well as topography proved that the film surface is evolved differently on different substrates. The formation of PANI on glass and Si substrates was confirmed by optical and infrared spectroscopy, respectively. Different surface characteristics for different substrates showed a strong effect on the gas sensing properties of these films. The porous fibril morphology on the Si substrate leads to significantly faster and more responsive sensing phenomena.

Y.P. Lee

Papers

Studies on tin oxide-intercalated polyaniline nanocomposite for ammonia gas sensing applications

Room-temperature gas sensing studies of polyaniline thin films deposited on different substrates