Room temperature NO ₂ gas sensing of Au-loaded tungsten oxide nanowires/porous silicon hybrid structure

Abstract

In this work, we report an enhanced nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas sensor based on tungsten oxide (WO3) nanowires/porous silicon (PS) decorated with gold (Au) nanoparticles. Au-loaded WO3 nanowires with diameters of 10 nm–25 nm and lengths of 300 nm–500 nm are fabricated by the sputtering method on a porous silicon substrate. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) micrographs show that Au nanoparticles are uniformly distributed on the surfaces of WO3 nanowires. The effect of the Au nanoparticles on the NO2-sensing performance of WO3 nanowires/porous silicon is investigated over a low concentration range of 0.2 ppm–5 ppm of NO2 at room temperature (25 °C). It is found that the 10-Å Au-loaded WO3 nanowires/porous silicon-based sensor possesses the highest gas response characteristic. The underlying mechanism of the enhanced sensing properties of the Au-loaded WO3 nanowires/porous silicon is also discussed.