Metal oxide blended ZSM-5 nanocomposites as ethanol sensors

[摘要] Nano-ZSM-5 is synthesized without organic template via microwave-assisted hydrothermal technique. The synthesized nano-ZSM-5 zeolite is blended with metal oxides (ZnO and TiO$_2$) to have novel composites as ethanol sensors. The composites are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) techniques. A study on ethanol sensing behaviour of metal oxide blended composite screen-printed thick films is carried out and the effect of metal oxide concentration on various ethanol sensing features, specifically operating temperature, response/recovery time and active region of the sensor, are investigated. XRD and FTIR confirm the blending of metal oxides in ZSM-5 matrix. Both, ZnO and TiO$_2$ blended, composite films are sensitive to ethanol. It can be concluded that metal oxide blending improves the preformance of sensor for ethanol detection. The response/recovery time and active sensing regions depend upon the concentration of metal oxide in host zeolite. The ZnO/ZSM-5 and TiO$_2$/ZSM-5 composite films are the excellent ethanol sensors.

[学科分类] 材料工程

[关键词] ZSM-5 zeolite;composites;XRD;FTIR;ethanol sensing.