Thick-film CO gas sensors

Abstract

A gas sensor of SnO <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> -based materials has been made by thick-film technology utilizing hydrophobic silica as a binder. The technology can achieve a high productivity as well as a reduced humidity dependence and a sufficient mechanical strength of sensors. A thick-film sensor of SnO <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> incorporated with ThO <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> shows highly selective detection for CO gas, separated from H <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> gas; i.e., sensitivity to CO is 42 times higher than to H <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> at both gas concentrations of 50 ppm. An excellent humidity-independent sensitivity is also achieved.