Metal oxide semiconductors (MOX) such as SnO2 are widely used in chemiresistive gas sensors due to their high chemical and thermal stability, low cost, and tunable chemical and electronic properties. The introduction of porosity to the MOX structure enhances their gas-sensing properties by increasing the surface area available for interactions with gas molecules. This higher surface area enhances the sensor's sensitivity by providing more active sites for gas adsorption. Also, a faster response/recovery time can be obtained as gas molecules can more quickly interact with a larger surface area of MOX. Herein, we aim to apply amphiphilic block copolymer as a template for the preparation of porous SnO2, one of the most used MOX materials for chemical sensing applications. Because of the intrinsic microphase structure of amphiphilic block copolymer, known as ‘self-assembly’, it can be used as a template to grow the SnO2 with distinctive and tailored porous structures. Porous SnO2 has been prepared by a simple sol-gel method with the aid of an amphiphilic copolymer. The morphology and the pore structure of the SnO2 are investigated with different amounts of amphiphilic copolymer. The gas sensing performance of the resulting porous SnO2 is being investigated and compared with the commercial nanoparticles of SnO2 with a wide range of gases.
Project is currently funded by: Member Fees