Optimization of nanostructured materials towards gas sensing

During the past few decades gas sensors have become more and more important in several domestic, urban, and industrial environments. The discovery of novel nano-structures provided ideal building blocks to fabricate a new generation of sensors that show significantly improved sensitivity and greatly reduced volume. The tiny size and dimensionality of nano-structures produce new properties (larger surface-to-volume ratio, higher reactivity, lower working temperature...) leading to better intrinsic performance. This book shows how metal oxide nano-structures and organic oligomers can be used to fabricate effective gas sensors. The different parameters used to evaluate the performance of a sensing device are elucidated. The growth mechanism of metal oxide nano-wires is described, as that of quasi-crystalline organic thin films nucleation and growth. The depletion layer modulation model is explained and proven with experimental data from single nano wire devices. The last chapter shows a possible approach to the novel concept of hybrid sensors.