Rare earth doped metal oxide sensor for the multimodal detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Fois, Matteo; Cox, Timothy; Ratcliffe, Norman; de Lacy Costello, Ben

Abstract

Heated metal oxide sensors have been widely studied for their ability to give a reversible change in the electrical resistance following the interaction with a volatile compound. Another feature is their inherent cataluminescence (CTL) properties when these materials interact with specific volatiles. This study reports for the first time a zirconium oxide nanomaterial doped with a rare earth metal which gives combined resistance and cataluminescence responses, providing enhanced sensitivity and selectivity of detection via a multimodal response in a single sensor. The europium-doped zirconium oxide, ZrO2:Eu3+ was studied and compared with the undoped zirconium oxide, ZrO2, and tungsten oxide, WO3. Materials were characterised structurally and tested with a series of volatiles. Both the cataluminescence light emission and the resistance response were recorded at different temperatures (starting from 180 °C up to 400 °C) and then combined to achieve the dual modality response. Europium-doped zirconium oxide gave a better sensitivity in terms of cataluminescence response than the undoped zirconium oxide sensor; dual modality sensing is demonstrated for ethanol and acetone which give cataluminescence and resistance responses on both the undoped and europium doped zirconia.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 24, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Dec 1, 2020
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Dec 3, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 2, 2021
• Journal: Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical
• Print ISSN: 0925-4005
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 330
• Article Number: 129264
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2020.129264
• Keywords: Instrumentation; Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Materials Chemistry; Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials; Surfaces, Coatings and Films; Condensed Matter Physics; Metals and Alloys; Gas sensing; Multimodal; Cataluminescence; Rare-earth ions
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/6918578