Monitoring a CuO gas sensor at work: an advanced in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy study.

X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and electrical measurements were used to elucidate the local structure and electronic changes of copper(II) oxide (CuO) nanostructures under working conditions. For this purpose, a sample holder layout was developed enabling the simultaneous analysis of the spectroscopic and electrical properties of the sensor material under identical operating conditions. The influence of different carrier gases (e.g., air and N2) on the CuO nanostructures behavior under reducing conditions (H2 gas) was studied to analyze how a particular gas atmosphere can modify the oxidation state of the sensor material in real time.

Controlled synthesis of layered Sn3O4 nanobelts by carbothermal reduction method and their gas sensor properties.

This paper reports both the controlled synthesis of Sn3O4 nanobelts by carbothermal reduction method and the gas sensor properties of these nanostructures. The synthesized material was characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and gas sensor measurements. The results showed that the Sn3O4 nanobelts grow in a layered way and the careful control of experimental parameters is fundamental for stabilization of the correct phase. From the gas sensor measurements using oxygen as analyte gas, it was observed that the Sn3O4 nanobelts exhibit n-type behavior and both the sensitivity and the response time are dependent on the oxygen concentration. A model based on molecules adsorption was proposed to illustrate the mechanism of gas detection of these nanostructures. In summary, these results indicate that Sn3O4 nanobelts synthesized by carbothermal reduction method are promising to be applied as gas sensors.