Growth of monoclinic WO3 nanowire array for highly sensitive NO2 detection

Abstract

A monoclinic tungsten trioxide nanowire array has been grown on silicon substrates using tungsten powders as source materials by thermal evaporation under specific synthesis conditions (1000 °C, 13–15 Torr, 200 sccm air flow). The morphology, chemical composition and crystal structure of the as-prepared tungsten trioxide nanowires were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. The nanowires were identified as monoclinic in structure, with diameters ranging from 40 to 100 nm and lengths up to 5 µm. It was found that sufficient oxygen and air flow are the major factors to influence the nanowire array growth. The nanowire array was employed directly for gas sensor fabrication using photolithography. The gas sensing experiments revealed that the nanowire array sensors are highly sensitive to NO2 (50 ppb), making the tungsten trioxide nanowire array a competitive candidate for highly sensitive gas sensor fabrication.