Nanostructured Oxide Semiconductor Compounds with Possible Applications for Gas Sensors

Abstract

Nanostructured oxide semiconductor compounds have gained a big importance, in basic and mostly in applicative researches, due to their unique properties, and their increased potential of utilization as sensors in various electronic and optoelectronic devices. The development of devices based on semiconductor materials as gas sensors has been visible during the recent years, due to their low manufacturing cost. Because the basic materials and the manufacturing processes are critical for gas sensors high performance, they need to be studied and capitalized in practice. Among the new technologies, the production of nanocrystalline materials and hybrid structures offer huge opportunities to improve sensitivity, selectivity and response time, as a consequence of the intensification of gas-sensor interaction. In this study, a series of nanostructured oxide semiconductor compounds with a spinel-type structure and perovskite, respectively, based on transition metals and syn- thesized by the sol-gel self-combustion method, with possible applications for resistive gas sensors, are presented.