Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2017) 132: 306
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2017-11581-x

Regular Article

High-performance ethanol gas sensor using TiO₂ nanostructures

¹ Dept. of Physics, Mangalore University, Mangalagangotri, 574 199, Karnataka, India
² MSRL, Dept. of Physics, St. Thomas College, Pala, 686 574, Kerala, India
³ Dept. of Optoelectronics, University of Kerala, Trivandrum, 695 581, Kerala, India
⁴ Nanoscience Research Centre (NSRC), Dept. of Physics, Nirmala College, Muvattupuzha, 686661, Kerala, India

^* e-mail: nanoncm@gmail.com

Received: 18 March 2017
Accepted: 5 June 2017
Published online: 13 July 2017

Abstract

TiO₂ nanostructures were synthesized by simple chemical routes. As-synthesized nanostructures were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and selected area diffraction patterns. In the present work, the sensing element was fabricated as thin pellets of TiO₂ nanoparticles without using any sensitizers coating. A novel approach of adopting gas sensing measurements of ethanol vapours at a low pressure condition inside a vacuum system has been achieved. All the samples show high sensor response towards ethanol vapour detection at relatively low operating temperatures. Thus, a low-cost industrial production of efficient ethanol gas sensor with good response and recovery time is possible with the synthesized TiO₂ nanostructures.