Chromium and Ruthenium-Doped Zinc Oxide Thin Films for Propane Sensing Applications

Autor: Maximino Avendaño-Alejo, Dwight Roberto Acosta, María de la Luz Olvera, Arturo Maldonado, Jorge Rodríguez-Baez, Gonzalo Alberto Torres, José Luis González-Vidal, Heberto Gómez-Pozos, Luis Castañeda
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2013
Předmět:
Zdroj: Sensors, Vol 13, Iss 3, Pp 3432-3444 (2013)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1424-8220
DOI: 10.3390/s130303432
Popis: Chromium and ruthenium-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Cr) and (ZnO:Ru) thin solid films were deposited on soda-lime glass substrates by the sol-gel dip-coating method. A 0.6 M solution of zinc acetate dihydrate dissolved in 2-methoxyethanol and monoethanolamine was used as basic solution. Chromium (III) acetylacetonate and Ruthenium (III) trichloride were used as doping sources. The Ru incorporation and its distribution profile into the films were proved by the SIMS technique. The morphology and structure of the films were studied by SEM microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements, respectively. The SEM images show porous surfaces covered by small grains with different grain size, depending on the doping element, and the immersions number into the doping solutions. The sensing properties of ZnO:Cr and ZnO:Ru films in a propane (C3H8) atmosphere, as a function of the immersions number in the doping solution, have been studied in the present work. The highest sensitivity values were obtained for films doped from five immersions, 5.8 and 900, for ZnO:Cr and ZnO:Ru films, respectively. In order to evidence the catalytic effect of the chromium (Cr) and ruthenium (Ru), the sensing characteristics of undoped ZnO films are reported as well.
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