PetroMat

In the present work, a new humidity sensor based on nanostructured hematite deposited by a wet chemical route on a low-cost natural inorganic phylosilicate (sepiolite) powder was obtained. The nanometric character of these particles has been evaluated by X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) and transmission electron microscopy.

A screen-printed thick film was developed to be overlapped to a gas sensing device for preserving it from contamination and degradation occurring in hostile environments, and also for improving its selectivity to a single pollutant gas when exposed to a complex atmosphere. This protective layer incorporated Al2O3 doped with Cs or Ba oxides as a catalyst material for eliminating gaseous interfering species, precisely CO2, to improve sensor response to CO.

In this work, different techniques are proposed to realize ammonia (NH3) sensors working at room temperature and a preliminary electrical characterization under water vapor and in NH3 atmospheres is presented.