Structural, morphological, optical and gas sensing properties of pure and Ce doped SnO2 thin films prepared by jet nebulizer spray pyrolysis (JNSP) technique

Pure and cerium (Ce) doped tin oxide (SnO2) thin films are prepared on glass substrates by jet nebulizer spray pyrolysis technique at 450 °C. The synthesized films are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive analysis X-ray, ultra violet visible spectrometer (UV–Vis) and stylus profilometer. Crystalline structure, crystallite size, lattice parameters, texture coefficient and stacking fault of the SnO2 thin films have been determined using X-ray diffractometer. The XRD results indicate that the films are grown with (110) plane preferred orientation. The surface morphology, elemental analysis and film thickness of the SnO2 films are analyzed and discussed. Optical band gap energy are calculated with transmittance data obtained from UV–Visible spectra. Optical characterization reveals that the band gap energy is found decreased from 3.49 to 2.68 eV. Pure and Ce doped SnO2 thin film gas sensors are fabricated and their gas sensing properties are tested for various gases maintained at different temperature between 150 and 250 °C. The 10 wt% Ce doped SnO2 sensor shows good selectivity towards ethanol (at operating temperature 250 °C). The influence of Ce concentration and operating temperature on the sensor performance is discussed. The better sensing ability for ethanol is observed compared with methanol, acetone, ammonia, and 2-methoxy ethanol gases.