Hydrogen sensing of Nano thin film and Nanowire structured cupric oxide deposited on SWNTs substrate: A comparison

  • Published : 2009.05.21

Abstract

Cupric oxide (CuO) is a p-type semiconductor with band gap of ~1.7 eV and reported to be suitable for catalysis, lithium-copper oxide electrochemical cells, and gas sensors applications. The nanoparticles, plates and nanowires of CuO were found sensing to NO2, H2S and CO. In this work, we report about the comparison about hydrogen sensing of nano thin film and nanowires structured CuO deposited on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). The thin film and nanowires are synthesized by deposition of Cu on different substrate followed by oxidation process. Nano thin films of CuO are deposited on thermally oxidized silicon substrate, whereas nanowires are synthesized by using a porous thin film of SWNTs as substrate. The hydrogen sensing properties of synthesized materials are investigated. The results showed that nanowires cupric oxide deposited on SWNTs showed higher sensitivity to hydrogen than those of nano thin film CuO did.

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