Author(s)

Jason Stephens, A. K. Batra, James R. Currie

Department of Physics (Materials Science Group), College of Engineering, Technology and Physical Sciences, Alabama A&M University, Normal, Alabama 35762, U.S.A.
NASA, George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama 35812, U.S.A..

Semiconducting nanoparticle tin oxide-based sensors have been prepared with a pressure load of 4, 6, 8, 10 tons and reinforced with carbon nanofibers (CNF) in SnO2 matrix. The SnO2/CNF sensor’s sensitivity for ethyl alcohol has in-creased by a factor of two, in compared with that of pure SnO2 8-ton pressed sensor with lower response time. These results open the way towards further optimized lower cost CNF nanocomposite sensors as compared with expensive tin oxide/carbon nanotubes sensors.

Chemical Sensors; Tin Oxide; Nano-composites; Carbon Nanofiber

J. Stephens, A. Batra and J. Currie, "Characteristics of Nanoparticles-Based Chemical Sensors," Materials Sciences and Applications, Vol. 3 No. 7, 2012, pp. 448-452. doi: 10.4236/msa.2012.37063.