Low-cost self-cleaning room temperature SnO2 thin film gas sensor on polymer nanostructures

Haibin Huo; Fadong Yan; Cong Wang; Haizhou Ren; Mengyan Shen

doi:10.1117/12.847260

31 March 2010 Low-cost self-cleaning room temperature SnO₂ thin film gas sensor on polymer nanostructures

Haibin Huo, Fadong Yan, Cong Wang, Haizhou Ren, Mengyan Shen

Proceedings Volume 7647, Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2010; 76474R (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.847260
Event: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

We have successfully fabricated SnO₂ thin film CO gas sensors on nanospiked polyurethane (PU) polymer surfaces that are replicated with a low-cost soft nanolithography method from nanospiked silicon surfaces formed with femtosecond laser irradiations. The sensors show sensitive responses to the CO gas at room temperature because of the sharp structures of the nanospikes. This is much different from the sensors of SnO₂ thin film coated on smooth surfaces that show no response to the CO gas at room temperature. To make the nanostructure sensor surface behave self-cleaning like lotus leaves, we deposited a silane monolayer on the surface of the sensors with the 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltrichlorosilane (PFOTS) which has low surface energy. The contact angle measurement conducted on the PFOTS monolayer-coated SnO₂ gas sensors indicates that a super-hydrophobic surface formed on the nanospike sensor. The CO gas response sensitivity of the PFOTS-coated SnO₂ sensors is almost the same to that of the as-fabricated SnO₂ sensors without the PFOTS coating. Such a super-hydrophobic surface can protect the sensors exposed to moisture and heavy particulates, and can perform cleaning-in-place operations to prolong the lifetime of the sensors. These results show a great potential to fabricate thousands of identical gas sensors at low cost.

Citation Download Citation

Haibin Huo, Fadong Yan, Cong Wang, Haizhou Ren, and Mengyan Shen "Low-cost self-cleaning room temperature SnO₂ thin film gas sensor on polymer nanostructures", Proc. SPIE 7647, Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2010, 76474R (31 March 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.847260

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