Thin film processing of MoO3 based hybrid materials

Abstract

Intercalative inorganic–organic hybrids with useful properties have attracted much attention owing to their potential applications in various kinds of devices. The development of thin film process is crucial to realize a novel device using the hybrid materials. Thin films of the intercalated organic/MoO3 hybrids have been prepared by an ex-situ intercalation process. The host MoO3 films were first deposited on substrates by using a CVD method followed by the intercalation of organic components into the MoO3 films. The preparation of highly b-axis oriented MoO3 films is essential to prepare the organic/MoO3 films. The organic/MoO3 films show semiconducting-like transport. The organic/MoO3 films show a distinct response to VOCs by changing their electrical resistivity and exhibit higher sensitivities to aldehyde gases, whereas almost no response to toluene and xylene. The VOC sensing performance is closely related to the microstructure of the organic/MoO3 thin films, which is able to be controlled by the growth conditions of the host MoO3 thin films.