Al2O3/CuO non-planar heterostructures for VOCs vapors detection

Abstract

In this work, the gas sensing properties of the non-planar heterostructures based on CuO thin films, grown by the direct ink writing and covered with an ultrathin Al2O3 layer, are presented as a function of the operating temperature. The obtained results demonstrates the excellent selectivity to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) vapors, namely n-butanol and 2-propanol in a operating temperature range of 200 – 350 ºC. The relatively low gas response was observed at room temperature, which is very important for low-power operation. The dynamic gas response showed an ultra-fast response time of 2 – 3 s. The obtained results demonstrates the excellent potential of nonplanar heterostructures based on metal oxides for use in high-performance environmental monitoring applications.