Preparation and gas-sensing properties of perovskite-type MSnO 3 (M=Zn, Cd, Ni)

The MSnO3 semiconducting oxide that can be used as a gas sensitive material for detecting ethanol gas is reported in this paper. MSnO3 powders were prepared by a chemical coprecipitation synthesis method. The preparation conditions were carefully controlled. After calcinations at appropriate temperature, the n-type semiconductor gas-sensing materials were obtained. The phases and microstructures of the obtained powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The products corresponded to a small particle size range of 0.1–0.4 Am and high surface area of 60–65 m 2 /g. The electrical properties, sensitivity-synthetic conditions and operating temperatures, and selectivity of MSnO3-based sensors were investigated. It was found that sensors had good sensitivity to vapor of C2H5OH. Gas-sensing mechanism was studied with X-photoelectron energy spectra (XPS). D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.