Improving the sensitivity of the ZnO gas sensor to dimethyl sulfide

Abstract

This study was focused on how to improve the gas sensing properties of resistive gas sensors based on zinc oxide to dimethyl sulfide (DMS). The aim of this research was to investigate possible ways of improvement detection of dimethyl sulfide, such as volume doping with synthesized gold nanoparticles or applying sepiolite passive filter. The addition of noble metal into the gas sensing layer is a widely known method of increasing gas sensor response. Sepiolite is a clay mineral with highly porous structure consisting of nanotubes few micrometers long and water absorption abilities. In this work thick-film resistive gas sensors based on zinc oxide were made (pure ZnO, modified by gold nanoparticles, with the addition of filter) and tested for low concentration (2 ppm) of dimethyl sulfide. The sensitivities to DMS of developed sensors were compared. Attention was paid to the analysis of the impact of high humidity (90% RH) on the sensor time response.