Heterostructure-based devices with enhanced humidity stability for H2 gas sensing applications in breath tests and portable batteries
Lupan, Oleg; Ababii, Nicolai; Mishra, Abhishek Kumar; Bodduluri, Mani Teja; Magariu, Nicolae; Vahl, Alexander; Krüger, Helge; Wagner, Bernhard; Faupel, Franz; Adelung, Rainer; de Leeuw, Nora H.; Hansen, Sandra
(2021) Sensors and Actuators, A: Physical, volume 329, pp. 1 - 15
(Article)
Abstract
Semiconducting metal oxide - based gas sensors exhibit outstanding sensitivity, although humidity in the analyte typically hampers precise measurements. In this work it was shown that a 5−6 nm thin Al2O3 nano-layer is particularly beneficial in reducing the interference due to humidity of p-type conductivity copper oxide-based gas sensors. An
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effective approach from chemical solutions at 75 °C and thermal annealing at 600 °C was used to grow copper oxide nano-crystallite layers. The Al2O3 nano-layers were subsequently deposited on top of copper oxide by atomic layer deposition in a high-aspect-ratio regime at 75 °C. The morphological, structural, chemical, vibrational, electronical and sensor characteristics of the heterostructured nano-crystallite layers have been studied. The final nano-Al2O3/CuO heterostructure showed an increase in the response to H2 gas by 140 %, while long-term stability at low and high relative humidity was observed. The initial sensing response varied by only 10 % for an Al2O3 layer of 5−6 nm on top of CuO with a post-thermal annealing at 600 °C acting as an effective barrier for water vapor and oxygen. A comparison with CuO nanocrystallite layers covered by ALD with 6 nm and 15 nm of Al2O3 ultra-thin films on top demonstrates an exceptional stability of the hydrogen gas response at high relative humidity (84 % RH). Density functional theory-based calculations showed that the H2 molecule spontaneously dissociates over the formed Al2O3/CuO heterostructure, interacting strongly with the surface Al atoms, showing different behavior compared to the pristine CuO (111) surface, where H2 gas molecules are known to form water over the surface. The present study demonstrates that a thorough optimization of technology and surface properties due to coverage and formation of heterostructured nano-materials improves the humidity stability during H2 gas sensing applications which is important for real-world applications, e.g. portable battery analysis, H2 breath tests, along with environmental, medicine, security, and food safety diagnostic tests.
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Keywords: AlO/CuO, DFT, H gas sensing, Heterostructures, Humidity stability, Taverne, Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Instrumentation, Condensed Matter Physics, Surfaces, Coatings and Films, Metals and Alloys, Electrical and Electronic Engineering
ISSN: 0924-4247
Publisher: Elsevier
Note: Funding Information: Federal Ministry of Education and Research by the project “PorSSi” (03XP0126 B) and the EKSH for supporting this research by “3D strukturierte Kohlenstoff-Schwefel Gerüstmaterialien als neuartiges und nachhaltiges Kathodenmaterial für Hochenergie Lithium-Ionen Akkus”. Additionally, the authors thank the WTSH and the EUSH for partially funding this project BAEW with (LPW-E/1.1.2/1486). This research was funded in parts by the DFG-Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) under the schemes FOR 2093, CE 183/17-1 at Kiel University and SFB 986-TP-B1 and SCHU 926/25-1 at TUHH. Dr. Oleg Lupan acknowledges the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for the research fellowship for experienced researchers (3-3MOL/1148833 STP) at the Institute for Materials Science, Kiel University, Germany. Dr. A.K. Mishra acknowledges University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun. Via N.H. de Leeuw's membership of the UK's HPC Materials Chemistry Consortium, which is funded by EPSRC (EP/L000202, EP/R029431), this work used the ARCHER UK National Supercomputing Service (http://www.archer.ac.uk). This research was sponsored in part by the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme (SPS) under grant G5634, Advanced Electro-Optical Chemical Sensors” AMOXES. Funding Information: Nora H. de Leeuw is a prominent scientist with an international reputation in the field of computational chemistry of materials and minerals. Specific research interests include materials for sustainable energy applications, the development of models to study biocompatible materials for tissue engineering applications, and the computer-aided design of sustainable catalysts for the conversion of carbon dioxide to fuels and chemicals under mild reaction conditions. De Leeuw holds professorial appointments at the University of Leeds, UK, and Utrecht University, the Netherlands, and she has been awarded research fellowships by the EPSRC and Royal Society and a William Penney fellowship by AWE. She is the recipient of a Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award, elected Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, and Member of Academia Europaea. Funding Information: Federal Ministry of Education and Research by the project “PorSSi” ( 03XP0126 B ) and the EKSH for supporting this research by “3D strukturierte Kohlenstoff-Schwefel Gerüstmaterialien als neuartiges und nachhaltiges Kathodenmaterial für Hochenergie Lithium-Ionen Akkus”. Additionally, the authors thank the WTSH and the EUSH for partially funding this project BAEW with ( LPW-E/1.1.2/1486 ). This research was funded in parts by the DFG-Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) under the schemes FOR 2093, CE 183/17-1 at Kiel University and SFB 986-TP-B1 and SCHU 926/25-1 at TUHH. Dr. Oleg Lupan acknowledges the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for the research fellowship for experienced researchers (3-3MOL/1148833 STP) at the Institute for Materials Science, Kiel University, Germany. Dr. A.K. Mishra acknowledges University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun. Via N.H. de Leeuw’s membership of the UK's HPC Materials Chemistry Consortium, which is funded by EPSRC ( EP/L000202 , EP/R029431 ), this work used the ARCHER UK National Supercomputing Service ( http://www.archer.ac.uk ). This research was sponsored in part by the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme (SPS) under grant G5634 , Advanced Electro-Optical Chemical Sensors” AMOXES. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier B.V.
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