Ultrasensitive hydrogen sensor based on Pt-decorated WO₃ nanorods prepared by glancing-angle dc magnetron sputtering

In this work, we report an ultrasensitive hydrogen (H2) sensor based on tungsten trioxide (WO3) nanorods decorated with platinum (Pt) nanoparticles. WO3 nanorods were fabricated by dc magnetron sputtering with a glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique, and decorations of Pt nanoparticles were performed by normal dc sputtering on WO3 nanorods with varying deposition time from 2.5 to 15 s. Crystal structures, morphologies, and chemical information on Pt-decorated WO3 nanorods were characterized by grazing-incident X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. The effect of the Pt nanoparticles on the H2-sensing performance of WO3 nanorods was investigated over a low concentration range of 150-3000 ppm of H2 at 150-350 °C working temperatures. The results showed that the H2 response greatly increased with increasing Pt-deposition time up to 10 s but then substantially deteriorated as the deposition time increased further. The optimally decorated Pt-WO3 nanorod sensor exhibited an ultrahigh H2 response from 1530 and 214,000 to 150 and 3000 ppm of H2, respectively, at 200 °C. The outstanding gas-sensing properties may be attributed to the excellent dispersion of fine Pt nanoparticles on WO3 nanorods having a very large effective surface area, leading to highly effective spillover of molecular hydrogen through Pt nanoparticles onto the WO3 nanorod surface.

Fabrication and characterization of carbon doped molybdenum oxide nanostructures

Molybdenum oxide (MoOx) nanostructure has gained considerable attention because of its low-cost fabrication by low-temperature evaporation/condensation technique and its promising properties for applications in the field of catalysts and chemical sensors. However, MoOx has some inferior properties including very high electrical resistivity and instability at elevated temperature. These properties may be improved by means of foreign atom addition into its nanostructure. In this work, we develop a simple mean for doping of MoOx nanostructures by introduction of gas source dopant during evaporation. Carbon doped MoOx nanostructures have been synthesized by MoOx powder evaporation in Argon/Acetylene mixture with varying process parameters. Depending on growth conditions, various nanostructures including, nanorod, nanoplate, nanodots, can be formed with different dimensions and doping concentrations. Structural characterization by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicate that the MoOx based nanostructures are highly crystalline and carbon dopant is successfully incorporated in the structure with controllable concentration. Electrical characterization shows that the electrical conductivity of molybdenum oxide nanostructures can be increased by several orders of magnitude with carbon incorporation.