Gas sensors based on thick films of semi-conducting single walled carbon nanotubes

A comparative study was made of sorted semi-conducting single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) films and unsorted SWCNT films for gas sensing applications. The transmission line method is used to monitor separately the SWCNTs film resistance and the contact resistance between electrodes and the SWCNTs...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Carbon (New York) 2011-09, Vol.49 (11), p.3544-3552
Main Authors: Battie, Yann, Ducloux, Olivier, Thobois, Philippe, Dorval, Nelly, Lauret, Jean Sébastien, Attal-Trétout, Brigitte, Loiseau, Annick
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carbon
Chemistry
Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science
rheology
Electrodes
Exact sciences and technology
Fullerenes and related materials
diamonds, graphite
Gas sensors
General and physical chemistry
Materials science
Nitrogen dioxide
Physics
Semiconductors
Sensors
Single wall carbon nanotubes
Specific materials
Surface physical chemistry
Thick films
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Summary:A comparative study was made of sorted semi-conducting single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) films and unsorted SWCNT films for gas sensing applications. The transmission line method is used to monitor separately the SWCNTs film resistance and the contact resistance between electrodes and the SWCNTs, thus revealing that the sensing mechanism mainly relies on a modification of the tube conductivity during gas exposure. The fabricated sensors demonstrate a detection limit of 20 ppb NO 2 and 600 ppb NH 3 mainly attributed to experimental setup limitations. Moreover, semi-conducting nanotubes happened to be 2.5 times more sensitive to NH 3 than unsorted ones, thus proving that selectivity can be improved by sorting the SWCNTs. The temperature dependence of the sensor sensitivity was studied, and a good agreement was found between experimental results and the Langmuir adsorption model.
ISSN:0008-6223
1873-3891
DOI:10.1016/j.carbon.2011.04.054