Gas Sensing Performances of Copper Oxide Films and Quasi 1-D Nanoarchitectures

Supported copper oxide nanosystems were synthesized by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) on Al2O3 substrates. A progressive evolution from polycrystalline Cu2O nanodeposits to CuO samples with an entangled quasi 1-D morphology occurred upon increasing the growth temperature from 350 to 550°C. Gas sensing performances in the detection of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs; e.g. CH3COCH3, CH3CH2OH) revealed appreciable responses even at moderate temperatures, with characteristics directly dependent on the system composition and nano-organization.