Fabrication and characterization of nanostructured (Sn–Ti)O2 pellets and films for liquefied petroleum gas sensing

Abstract

Present paper reports the synthesis of nanostructured (Sn–Ti)O2 via physicochemical method, its characterization and performance as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sensor. The synthesized material was characterized using XRD that confirmed the formation of (Sn–Ti)O2 nanocomposite. Minimum crystallite size was found as 7 nm. The material was also investigated through SEM, DSC, FTIR, PL and UV–Vis spectrophotometer. Further, the pellet, thick and thin films were fabricated for the sensing analysis. Pellets (9 mm diameter, 4 mm thickness) of (Sn–Ti)O2 nanocomposite were made by hydraulic pressing machine by applying uniaxial pressure of 616 MPa, thick films (thickness ~2 µm) were made by screen printing technique and thin films were prepared using a Photo resist spinner unit. Further at room temperature, the pellet and films were exposed to LPG in a gas chamber under controlled conditions at room temperature and variations in resistance with the concentrations of LPG were observed. The maximum value of sensitivity of solid state pellet, thick and thin films based sensors were found 7, 9 and 39 for 5 vol% of LPG, respectively. Sensing characteristics were found to be reproducible, after 6 months of their fabrication, indicating the stability of the sensors.