Hydrogen (H2) and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) sensing properties of SnO2 thin films obtained by direct oxidation of chemically deposited SnS films has been studied. The SnS film was prepared by a chemical technique called SILAR (Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction). The sensor element comprises of a layer of chemically deposited SnO2 film with an overlayer of palladium (Pd) sensitiser. The Pd sensitiser layer was also formed following a chemical technique. The double layer element so formed shows significantly high sensitivity to H2 and LPG. The temperature variation of sensitivity was studied and the maximum sensitivity of 99.7% was observed at around 200°C for 1 vol% H2 in air. The response time to target gas was about 10 seconds and the sensor element was found to recover to its original resistance reasonably fast. The maximum sensitivity of 98% for 1.6 vol% LPG was observed at around 325°C. The sensor response and recovery was reasonably fast (less than one minute) at this temperature.
Alternating current a.c. measurements enable to understand the physical and chemical processes occurring in semiconductor materials. Impedance spectroscopy has been successfully applied to study the responses of gas sensors based on metal oxides, such as TiO2, SnO2 and TiO2/SnO2 nanocomposites. This work is devoted to dynamic measurements of hydrogen sensor behaviour over the temperature range of 300–450◦C. Frequency dependence of the impedance signal gives evidence that 50 mol% TiO2/50 mol% SnO2 nanocomposites should be treated as resistive-type sensors. Temporal evolution of the response to 500 ppm H2 at 320◦C indicates a very short response time and much longer recovery.
Different anchoring groups such as thiophene-2-acetic and malonic acid were investigated for synthesis of new photosensitizers. The new dyes (photosensitizers) were made pure and determined by various analytical techniques. The chemical structure of synthesized materials was certified by analytical studies. UV-Visible and fluorescence spectra revealed intense fluorescence and absorption for organic photosensitizers. The cyclic voltammetry results showed that the two photosensitizers were suitable for dye sensitized solar cell preparation. The work electrode was gathered using tin (IV) oxide nanoparticles in dye-sensitized solar cells structure. The new photosensitizers and tin (IV) oxide were used for photovoltaic devices preparation. The power conversion efficiency was obtained as about 4.12 and 4.29% for Dye 1 and Dye 2, respectively.
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