Elsevier

Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical

Volume 188, November 2013, Pages 709-728
Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical

Review
Engineering approaches for the improvement of conductometric gas sensor parameters: Part 1. Improvement of sensor sensitivity and selectivity (short survey)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2013.07.101Get rights and content

Abstract

Engineering approaches designed to improve the parameters of conductometric gas sensors, are considered in this short survey. In particular, in the first part of the paper we analyze the engineering approaches used for the improvement of sensor sensitivity and selectivity. Analysis has shown that engineering approaches in a number of cases can eliminate some intrinsic disadvantages of conductometric gas sensors, can give significant improvement of gas sensors performances and expand their application in various fields.

Introduction

At present there is a great number of published review papers devoted to summarizing results of research focused on optimizing parameters of metal oxides aimed for use in conductometric gas sensors [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20]. In those papers and many others it was established that essential improvement of conductometric gas sensor parameters can be achieved via controlling the size and shape of the grains, using 1D, hierarchical and hollow metal oxide nanostructures, improving the porosity of gas sensing matrix, optimization of the thickness and the phase composition of gas sensing layer, and increasing the catalytic activity of gas sensing material through the introduction of catalytically active additives using bulk doping and surface modification. However, despite considerable efforts to improve the technologies of synthesis, deposition and fuctionalization of metal oxide materials, one should recognize that some problems inherent to conductometric gas sensors, such as insufficient sensitivity to some specific gases, low selectivity, instability, temporal drift and high sensitivity of parameters to air humidity, are not resolved yet.

Researches, conducted during last decades, have shown that the existing problems can be partially resolved through engineering approaches which are not related to changes in the properties of gas-sensitive matrix. However, we have to note that so far there are no published reviews, generalizing results of studies in this area. In the present survey, consisting in two parts, we have tried to overlap this gap. The first part covers the analysis of the engineering approaches used for the improvement of sensor sensitivity and selectivity. In the second part we will discuss the effectiveness of engineering approaches proposed for the reduction of power consumption and for the improvement of stability and reliability of conductometric gas sensors.

One should note that other types of gas sensors can also have problems in terms of sensitivity, selectivity and stability. Therefore, we believe that topics discussed in this review might be of interest for researchers working in the field of another solid state gas sensor design as well.

Section snippets

Engineering approaches for the improvement of sensor sensitivity

According to classical interpretation, sensitivity (S) is the slope of the graph representing the change of the electrically measured parameter (resistance, voltage) vs. the gas concentration. This means that a sensor's sensitivity indicates how much the sensor's output changes when the measured quantity is being changed. However, in many cases sensitivity of conductometric gas sensors is characterized by a dimensionless parameters such as sensor signal, response ratio, or sensor response,

Engineering approaches used for the improvement of gas sensor selectivity

Selectivity can be defined as the ability of a sensor to respond to a certain gas in the presence of other gases. As it is known, sensors are normally sensitive to more than one stimulus and usually show cross-sensitivities. Thus, the selectivity is a measurand, which can be estimated by comparing the effects of different gases on a sensor. Selectivity of the gas sensor response to a target gas in the presence of a mixture of gases is necessary for many applications in which the gas origin is

Outlooks

Thus, conducted analysis shows that engineering approaches are really effective methods for the improvement of the parameters of conductometric gas sensors. Of course, these optimization methods cannot replace conventional approaches based on the search for new materials and the development of new technologies that improve and optimize the gas-sensing layers. However it is necessary accept that engineering approaches in a number of situations give the best effect, and their use can eliminate

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Korea (2011-0028736), by the Korean Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) NCRC grant (No. R15-2008-006-01002-0) funded by the Korean government (MEST), and by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2012R1A1A2041564).

Ghenadii Korotcenkov received his PhD in Physics and Technology of Semiconductor Materials and Devices from Technical University of Moldova in 1976 and his Habilitate degree in Physics and Mathematics from Academy of Science of Moldova in 1990. Long time he was a leader of gas sensor group and manager of various national and international scientific and engineering projects carried out in the Laboratory of Micro- and Optoelectronics, Technical University of Moldova. Currently Dr. G. Korotcenkov

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    Ghenadii Korotcenkov received his PhD in Physics and Technology of Semiconductor Materials and Devices from Technical University of Moldova in 1976 and his Habilitate degree in Physics and Mathematics from Academy of Science of Moldova in 1990. Long time he was a leader of gas sensor group and manager of various national and international scientific and engineering projects carried out in the Laboratory of Micro- and Optoelectronics, Technical University of Moldova. Currently Dr. G. Korotcenkov is a research professor in Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) in Korea and editor of “Chemical Sensors” series published by Momentum Press. His present scientific interests include material sciences, focusing on metal oxide film deposition and characterization, surface science, and thin film gas sensor design.

    Beongki Cho received his PhD in Physics and Astronomy from Iowa State University, U.S.A. in 1995. He was worked in the field of the interplay between superconductivity and magnetism during his PhD program. He extended his research interest to strongly correlated electron system, including heavy fermion, Kondo behavior, and related materials, which shows exotic physical properties. He is now a professor in Materials Science and Engineering Department and Department of Nanobio Materials and Electronics at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) in Korea. In addition to his research majors, his current research projects are focused on sensors design, including development of bio-sensor using GMR and TMR junction in nano-size, and metal oxide gas sensors.

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