Abstract

Metal oxide (MOX) gas sensors and gas sensor arrays are widely used to detect toxic, combustible, and corrosive gases and gas mixtures inside ambient air. Important but poorly researched effects counteracting reliable detection are the phenomena of sensor baseline drift and changes in gas response upon long-term operation of MOX gas sensors. In this paper, it is shown that baseline drift is not limited to materials with poor crystallinity, but that this phenomenon principally also occurs in materials with almost perfect crystalline order. Building on this result, a theoretical framework for the analysis of such phenomena is developed. This analysis indicates that sensor drift is caused by the slow annealing of quenched-in non-equilibrium oxygen-vacancy donors as MOX gas sensors are operated at moderate temperatures for prolonged periods of time. Most interestingly, our analysis predicts that sensor drift in n-type MOX materials can potentially be mitigated or even suppressed by doping with metal impurities with chemical valences higher than those of the core metal constituents of the host crystals.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.