UV assisted chemical sensor based on Electrospun Titania nanofibers working at room temperature

This work presents the fabrication and the characterization of a chemoresistor based on titania nanofibers, produced by means of the electrospinning technique, with high sensitivity to some gases of relevant interest in fields like environment or medical applications, such as NH3 and NO2 without the need to use high temperatures (300-500°C). In order to obtain a reasonable sensor conductance and to enhance the sensor response and the signal to noise ratio, we have used an ultra violet (about 400 nm) light source to irradiate the titania nanofibers exploiting its photoconductivity. Sensor response, in terms of percentage of relative current shift, was about 1.2 % for 125 ppb of NO2 and 1.5 % for 110 ppb of NH3.