Micro and Nano Technology in Gas Sensing

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "C:Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 December 2023) | Viewed by 9165

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Chemistry Department, Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russia
Interests: gas sensors; solar energy applications; X-ray

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Voronezh State Agrarian University, Voronezh 394000, Russia
Interests: gas sensor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recently, the use of gas sensors has become increasingly important in various fields such as environmental monitoring, medicine, industry, fire safety, and many others. However, at the same time, the complexity of gas sensor's development has also increased, since specific and difficult-to-match requirements are often claimed for the type of detecting gas, operating concentration range, sensitivity, size, long-term stability, energy consumption, and others.

The Special Issue "Micro- and Nanotechnologies in Gas Analysis" aims to present the latest topical research in the field of gas sensors, based on both scientific and engineering achievements, including the development of promising gas-sensitive nanomaterials, selection of a method for measuring and processing of a sensor signal, as well as improving the design of sensors, miniaturization of their components, and optimization of energy consumption. More broadly, in this Special Issue we would like to collect the articles reporting on the achievements and approaches in the development and design of gas sensors using micro- and nanotechnologies. All types of submissions are welcome, including research articles, reviews, and communications. Authors are encouraged to contribute to the Special Issue with the results of their experimental or theoretical research. Topics that will be covered in this Special Issue include (but are not restricted to) the following:

  • The synthesis and characterization of gas sensing materials based on nanocrystalline metal oxides, composites, perovskites, sulfides, graphene-based materials, quantum dots, surface modification, and functionalization.
  • Evaluation of surface reactivity of gas sensing materials, adsorption and desorption of gases, investigations of gas-sensing mechanisms.
  • Semiconductor gas sensing materials for gas detection under UV or visible photoactivation, the use of photoactivation to reduce the energy consumption of sensors.
  • Approaches to the miniaturization and integration of gas sensors, reducing the size of sensitive, heating, or light-emitting elements.
  • Manufacturing of sensors on flexible or transparent substrates, printed and patterned gas sensors.

Dr. Artem Chizhov
Prof. Dr. Alexey Shaposhnik
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • gas sensors
  • metal oxides
  • nanomaterials
  • photoactivation
  • miniaturization
  • design and optimization
  • energy consumption
  • patterned sensors

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 3419 KiB  
Article
Metal Oxide Nanowire-Based Sensor Array for Hydrogen Detection
by Dario Zappa, Navpreet Kaur, Abderrahim Moumen and Elisabetta Comini
Micromachines 2023, 14(11), 2124; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14112124 - 19 Nov 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1684
Abstract
Accurate hydrogen leakage detection is a major requirement for the safe and widespread integration of this fuel in modern energy production devices, such as fuel cells. Quasi-1D nanowires of seven different metal oxides (CuO, WO3, Nb-added WO3, SnO2 [...] Read more.
Accurate hydrogen leakage detection is a major requirement for the safe and widespread integration of this fuel in modern energy production devices, such as fuel cells. Quasi-1D nanowires of seven different metal oxides (CuO, WO3, Nb-added WO3, SnO2, ZnO, α-Bi2O3, NiO) were integrated into a conductometric sensor array to evaluate the hydrogen-sensing performances in the presence of interfering gaseous compounds, namely carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, methane, acetone, and ethanol, at different operating temperatures (200–400 °C). Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to data extracted from the array, demonstrating the ability to discriminate hydrogen over other interferent compounds. Moreover, a reduced array formed by only five sensors is proposed. This compact array may be easily implementable into artificial olfaction systems used in real hydrogen detection applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro and Nano Technology in Gas Sensing)
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11 pages, 6207 KiB  
Article
Towards High-Temperature MEMS: Two-Step Annealing Suppressed Recrystallization in Thin Multilayer Pt-Rh/Zr Films
by Georgii A. Pleshakov, Ivan A. Kalinin, Alexey V. Ivanov, Ilya V. Roslyakov, Igor V. Yaminsky and Kirill S. Napolskii
Micromachines 2023, 14(11), 2003; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14112003 - 28 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1857
Abstract
Platinum-based thin films are widely used to create microelectronic devices operating at temperatures above 500 °C. One of the most effective ways to increase the high-temperature stability of platinum-based films involves incorporating refractory metal oxides (e.g., ZrO2, HfO2). In [...] Read more.
Platinum-based thin films are widely used to create microelectronic devices operating at temperatures above 500 °C. One of the most effective ways to increase the high-temperature stability of platinum-based films involves incorporating refractory metal oxides (e.g., ZrO2, HfO2). In such structures, refractory oxide is located along the metal grain boundaries and hinders the mobility of Pt atoms. However, the effect of annealing conditions on the morphology and functional properties of such multiphase systems is rarely studied. Here, we show that the two-step annealing of 250-nm-thick Pt-Rh/Zr multilayer films instead of the widely used isothermal annealing leads to a more uniform film morphology without voids and hillocks. The composition and morphology of as-deposited and annealed films were investigated using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. At the first annealing step at 450 °C, zirconium oxidation was observed. The second high-temperature annealing at 800–1000 °C resulted in the recrystallization of the Pt-Rh alloy. In comparison to the one-step annealing of Pt-Rh and Pt-Rh/Zr films, after two-step annealing, the metal phase in the Pt-Rh/Zr films has a smaller grain size and a less pronounced texture in the <111> direction, manifesting enhanced high-temperature stability. After two-step annealing at 450/900 °C, the Pt-Rh/Zr thin film possessed a grain size of 60 ± 27 nm and a resistivity of 17 × 10−6 Ω·m. The proposed annealing protocol can be used to create thin-film MEMS devices for operation at elevated temperatures, e.g., microheater-based gas sensors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro and Nano Technology in Gas Sensing)
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16 pages, 5118 KiB  
Article
Fabrication of a Highly NO2-Sensitive Gas Sensor Based on a Defective ZnO Nanofilm and Using Electron Beam Lithography
by Zhifu Feng, Damiano Giubertoni, Alessandro Cian, Matteo Valt, Matteo Ardit, Andrea Pedrielli, Lia Vanzetti, Barbara Fabbri, Vincenzo Guidi and Andrea Gaiardo
Micromachines 2023, 14(10), 1908; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14101908 - 6 Oct 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1272
Abstract
Hazardous substances produced by anthropic activities threaten human health and the green environment. Gas sensors, especially those based on metal oxides, are widely used to monitor toxic gases with low cost and efficient performance. In this study, electron beam lithography with two-step exposure [...] Read more.
Hazardous substances produced by anthropic activities threaten human health and the green environment. Gas sensors, especially those based on metal oxides, are widely used to monitor toxic gases with low cost and efficient performance. In this study, electron beam lithography with two-step exposure was used to minimize the geometries of the gas sensor hotplate to a submicron size in order to reduce the power consumption, reaching 100 °C with 0.09 W. The sensing capabilities of the ZnO nanofilm against NO2 were optimized by introducing an enrichment of oxygen vacancies through N2 calcination at 650 °C. The presence of oxygen vacancies was proven using EDX and XPS. It was found that oxygen vacancies did not significantly change the crystallographic structure of ZnO, but they significantly improved the electrical conductivity and sensing behaviors of ZnO film toward 5 ppm of dry air. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro and Nano Technology in Gas Sensing)
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14 pages, 2494 KiB  
Article
Structure, Conductivity, and Sensor Properties of Nanosized ZnO-In2O3 Composites: Influence of Synthesis Method
by Mariya I. Ikim, Vladimir F. Gromov, Genrikh N. Gerasimov, Elena Y. Spiridonova, Anastasiya R. Erofeeva, Kairat S. Kurmangaleev, Kirill S. Polunin, Olusegun J. Ilegbusi and Leonid I. Trakhtenberg
Micromachines 2023, 14(9), 1685; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14091685 - 29 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1499
Abstract
The influence of the method used for synthesizing ZnO-In2O3 composites (nanopowder mixing, impregnation, and hydrothermal method) on the structure, conductivity, and sensor properties is investigated. With the nanopowder mixing, the size of the parent nanoparticles in the composite remains practically [...] Read more.
The influence of the method used for synthesizing ZnO-In2O3 composites (nanopowder mixing, impregnation, and hydrothermal method) on the structure, conductivity, and sensor properties is investigated. With the nanopowder mixing, the size of the parent nanoparticles in the composite remains practically unchanged in the range of 50–100 nm. The impregnation composites consist of 70 nm In2O3 nanoparticles with ZnO nanoclusters < 30 nm in size located on its surface. The nanoparticles in the hydrothermal composites have a narrow size distribution in the range of 10–20 nm. The specific surface of hydrothermal samples is five times higher than that of impregnated samples. The sensor response of the impregnated composite to 1100 ppm H2 is 1.3–1.5 times higher than the response of the mixed composite. Additives of 15–20 and 85 wt.% ZnO to mixed and impregnated composites lead to an increase in the response compared with pure In2O3. In the case of hydrothermal composite, up to 20 wt.% ZnO addition leads to a decrease in response, but 65 wt.% ZnO addition increases response by almost two times compared with pure In2O3. The sensor activity of a hydrothermal composite depends on the phase composition of In2O3. The maximum efficiency is reached for the composite containing cubic In2O3 and the minimum for rhombohedral In2O3. An explanation is provided for the observed effects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro and Nano Technology in Gas Sensing)
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20 pages, 7390 KiB  
Article
Highly Active Nanocrystalline ZnO and Its Photo-Oxidative Properties towards Acetone Vapor
by Artem Chizhov, Pavel Kutukov, Alexander Gulin, Artyom Astafiev and Marina Rumyantseva
Micromachines 2023, 14(5), 912; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi14050912 - 23 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1980
Abstract
Zinc oxide is one of the well-known photocatalysts, the potential applications of which are of great importance in photoactivated gas sensing, water and air purification, photocatalytic synthesis, among others. However, the photocatalytic performance of ZnO strongly depends on its morphology, composition of impurities, [...] Read more.
Zinc oxide is one of the well-known photocatalysts, the potential applications of which are of great importance in photoactivated gas sensing, water and air purification, photocatalytic synthesis, among others. However, the photocatalytic performance of ZnO strongly depends on its morphology, composition of impurities, defect structure, and other parameters. In this paper, we present a route for the synthesis of highly active nanocrystalline ZnO using commercial ZnO micropowder and ammonium bicarbonate as starting precursors in aqueous solutions under mild conditions. As an intermediate product, hydrozincite is formed with a unique morphology of nanoplates with a thickness of about 14–15 nm, the thermal decomposition of which leads to the formation of uniform ZnO nanocrystals with an average size of 10–16 nm. The synthesized highly active ZnO powder has a mesoporous structure with a BET surface area of 79.5 ± 4.0 m2/g, an average pore size of 20 ± 2 nm, and a cumulative pore volume of 0.507 ± 0.051 cm3/g. The defect-related PL of the synthesized ZnO is represented by a broad band with a maximum at 575 nm. The crystal structure, Raman spectra, morphology, atomic charge state, and optical and photoluminescence properties of the synthesized compounds are also discussed. The photo-oxidation of acetone vapor over ZnO is studied by in situ mass spectrometry at room temperature and UV irradiation (λmax = 365 nm). The main products of the acetone photo-oxidation reaction, water and carbon dioxide, are detected by mass spectrometry, and the kinetics of their release under irradiation are studied. The effect of morphology and microstructure on the photo-oxidative activity of ZnO samples is demonstrated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro and Nano Technology in Gas Sensing)
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