This article is cited in 53 papers

Surface, interfaces, thin films

Study of the effect of the acid-base surface properties of ZnO, Fe$_2$O$_3$ and ZnFe$_2$O$_4$ oxides on their gas sensitivity to ethanol vapor

S. S. Karpova^a, V. A. Moshnikov^a, A. I. Maximov^a, S. V. Myakin^b, N. E. Kazantseva<sup>c

a</sup> Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University "LETI"
^b State Technological Institute of St. Petersburg (Technical University)
^c Tomas Bata University in Zlin, 760 01 Zlin, Czech Republic

Abstract: Binary (ZnO, Fe$_2$O$_3$) and ternary (ZnFe$_2$O$_4$) gas-sensitive oxide materials are synthesized, and the correlation between their sensitivity to ethanol vapor and the functional chemical composition of the surface is studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and by the technique of the adsorption of acid-base indicators. It is found that the sensitivity to ethanol increases with increasing content of Brönsted acid sites with the acidity index рK$_a\approx$ 2.5 and with increasing percentage of surface oxygen involved in OH/CO$_3$/C–O groups. This interrelation is attributed to the specific features of interaction between ethanol molecules and hydroxyl groups on the surface of the oxides.

Received: 03.12.2012
Accepted: 10.12.2012

 English version: Semiconductors, 2013, 47:8, 1026–1030

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