Study the Sensing Properties of Nano-Powders Zinc Oxide Films Towards Ethanol Vapor

Abstract

Thick Films have been prepared by the chemical painting method from Zinc Oxide nano powder as the source compound, which are prepared by milling in a high energy ball mill for various spans of time (1-18h) on cleaned glass substrates under limited thermal conditions. The temperature of the films has been changed from 50°C to 350°C. The films have been investigated for their sensing properties relating to 100ppm methanol vapor adsorption, using the (I–V) characteristics. The effect of the grain size and the thermal conditions on the sensing properties of the ZnO thick films to methanol vapor adsorption, as well as the correlations between The electrical conductivity of the ZnO thick films and the grain size of the material films are reported. The response time for films which have particle size about 34.7nm is defined at 300°C.

Keywords: Zinc Oxide (ZnO), Methanol Vapor, Sensing properties.