Micro-electronic gas sensor devices were developed for the detection of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ammonia (NH3), and formaldehyde (HCHO), as well as binary mixed-gas systems. Four gas sensing materials for different target gases, Pd-SnO2 for CO, In2O3 for NOx, Ru-WO3 for NH3, and SnO2-ZnO for HCHO, were synthesized using a sol-gel method, and sensor devices were then fabricated using a micro sensor platform. The gas sensing behavior and sensor response to the gas mixture were examined for six mixed gas systems using the experimental data in MEMS gas sensor arrays in sole gases and their mixtures. The gas sensing behavior with the mixed gas system suggests that specific adsorption and selective activation of the adsorption sites might occur in gas mixtures, and allow selectivity for the adsorption of a particular gas. The careful pattern recognition of sensing data obtained by the sensor array made it possible to distinguish a gas species from a gas mixture and to measure its concentration.

Four types of metal oxide semiconductor gas sensor arrays were used to observe the aroma and spoilage odor emitted during the ripening process of plum & banana fruits. All gas sensors showed a high correlation (R=0.82~0.90) with the olfactory. The TGS 2603 sensor showed a high correlation of 0.90 between the odor generated and sensory perception of smell in the process of ripening and decaying fruits. In addition, it showed a very high correlation of 0.91 with the decay rate of the plum sample, and the significance probability through one-way ANOVA was also less than 0.05, which confirmed it as an optimal gas sensor (TGS 2603). Principal component analysis was performed using all the data. The cumulative variability was 99.54%, which could be explained only by two principal components, and the first principal component was 95.11%, which was related to the freshness of the fruit. It was analyzed as fresh fruit in the negative(-) direction and decayed fruit in the positive(+) direction.

Synthesizing nanostructured thin films of oxide semiconductors is a promising approach to fabricate highly efficient photoelectrodes for hydrogen production via photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. In this work, we investigate the feasibility as an efficient photoanode for PEC water oxidation of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructured thin films synthesized via a simple method combined with sputtering Zn metallic films on a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate and subsequent thermal oxidation of the sputtered Zn metallic films in dry air. Characterization of the structural, optical, and PEC properties of the ZnO nanostructured thin film synthesized at varying Zn sputtering powers reveals that we can obtain an optimum ZnO nanostructured thin film as PEC photoanode at a sputtering power of 40 W. The photocurrent density and optimal photocurrent conversion efficiency for the optimum ZnO nanostructured thin film photoanode are found to be 0.1 mA/cm2 and 0.51 %, respectively, at a potential of 0.72 V vs. RHE. Our results illustrate that the ZnO nanostructured thin film has promising potential as an efficient photoanode for PEC water splitting.

Synthesizing one-dimensional nanostructures of oxide semiconductors is a promising approach to fabricate highefficiency photoelectrodes for hydrogen production from photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. In this work, vertically aligned zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorod arrays are successfully synthesized on fluorine-doped-tin-oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate via seed-mediated hydrothermal synthesis method with the use of a ZnO nanoparticle seed layer, which is formed by thermally oxidizing a sputtered Zn metal thin film. The structural, optical and PEC properties of the ZnO nanorod arrays synthesized at varying levels of Zn sputtering power are examined to reveal that the optimum ZnO nanorod array can be obtained at a sputtering power of 20W. The photocurrent density and the optimal photocurrent conversion efficiency obtained for the optimum ZnO nanorod array photoanode are 0.13 mA/cm2 and 0.49 %, respectively, at a potential of 0.85 V vs. RHE. These results provide a promising avenue to fabricating earth-abundant ZnO-based photoanodes for PEC water oxidation using facile hydrothermal synthesis.

We report on the efficient detection of NO gas by an all-oxide semiconductor p-n heterojunction diode structure comprised of n-type zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods embedded in p-type copper oxide (CuO) thin film. The CuO thin film/ZnO nanorod heterostructure was fabricated by directly sputtering CuO thin film onto a vertically aligned ZnO nanorod array synthesized via a hydrothemal method. The transport behavior and NO gas sensing properties of the fabricated CuO thin film/ ZnO nanorod heterostructure were charcterized and revealed that the oxide semiconductor heterojunction exhibited a definite rectifying diode-like behavior at various temperatures ranging from room temperature to 250 oC. The NO gas sensing experiment indicated that the CuO thin film/ZnO nanorod heterostructure had a good sensing performance for the efficient detection of NO gas in the range of 2-14 ppm under the conditions of an applied bias of 2 V and a comparatively low operating temperature of 150 oC. The NO gas sensing process in the CuO/ZnO p-n heterostructure is discussed in terms of the electronic band structure.

ZnO film was prepared on a p-type Si wafer and then annealed at various temperatures in air and vacuum conditions to research the electrical properties and bonding structures during the annealing processes. ZnO film annealed in atmosphere formed a crystal structure owing to the suppression of oxygen vacancies: however, ZnO annealed in vacuum had an amorphous structure after annealing because of the increment of the content of oxygen vacancies. Schottky contact was observed for the ZnO annealed in an air. O 1s spectra with amorphous structure was found to have a value of 529 eV; that with a crystal structure was found to have a value of 531.5 eV. However, it was observed in these results that the correlation between the electronic characteristics and the bonding structures was weak.

We present the rectifying and nitrogen monoxide (NO) gas sensing properties of an oxide semiconductor heterostructure composed of n-type zinc oxide (ZnO) and p-type copper oxide thin layers. A CuO thin layer was first formed on an indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrate by sol-gel spin coating method using copper acetate monohydrate and diethanolamine as precursors; then, to form a p-n oxide heterostructure, a ZnO thin layer was spin-coated on the CuO layer using copper zinc dihydrate and diethanolamine. The crystalline structures and microstructures of the heterojunction materials were examined using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The observed current-voltage characteristics of the p-n oxide heterostructure showed a non-linear diode-like rectifying behavior at various temperatures ranging from room temperature to 200 oC. When the spin-coated ZnO/CuO heterojunction was exposed to the acceptor gas NO in dry air, a significant increase in the forward diode current of the p-n junction was observed. It was found that the NO gas response of the ZnO/CuO heterostructure exhibited a maximum value at an operating temperature as low as 100 oC and increased gradually with increasing of the NO gas concentration up to 30 ppm. The experimental results indicate that the spin-coated ZnO/CuO heterojunction structure has significant potential applications for gas sensors and other oxide electronics.

We present an excellent detection for nitrogen monoxide (NO) gas using polycrystalline ZnO wire-like films synthesized via a simple method combined with sputtering of Zn metallic films and subsequent thermal oxidation of the sputtered Zn nanowire films in dry air. Structural and morphological characterization revealed that it would be possible to synthesize polycrystalline hexagonal wurtzite ZnO films of a wire-like nanostructure with widths of 100-150 nm and lengths of several microns by controlling the sputtering conditions. It was found from the gas sensing measurements that the ZnO wirelike thin film gas sensor showed a significantly high response, with a maximum value of 29.2 for 2 ppm NO at 200 oC, as well as a reversible fast response to NO with a very low detection limit of 50 ppb. In addition, the ZnO wire-like thin film gas sensor also displayed an NO-selective sensing response for NO, O2, H2, NH3, and CO gases. Our results illustrate that polycrystalline ZnO wire-like thin films are potential sensing materials for the fabrication of NO-sensitive high-performance gas sensors.

To study the characteristics of ZTO, which is made using a target mixed ZnO:SnO2= 1:1, the ZnO and SnO2 were analyzed using PL, XRD patterns, and electrical properties. Resulting characteristics were compared with the electrical characteristics of ZnO, SnO2, and ZTO. The electrical characteristics of ZTO were found to improve with increasing of the annealing temperature due to the high degree of crystal structures at high temperature. The crystal structure of SnO2 was also found to increase with increasing temperatures. So, the structure of ZTO was found to be affected by the annealing temperature and the molecules of SnO2; the optical property of ZTO was similar to that of ZnO. Among the ZTO films, ZTO annealed at the highest temperature showed the highest capacitance and Schottky contact.

We present the detection characteristics of nitrogen monoxide(NO) gas using p-type copper oxide(CuO) thin film gas sensors. The CuO thin films were fabricated on glass substrates by a sol-gel spin coating method using copper acetate hydrate and diethanolamine as precursors. Structural characterizations revealed that we prepared the pure CuO thin films having a monoclinic crystalline structure without any obvious formation of secondary phase. It was found from the NO gas sensin measurements that the p-type CuO thin film gas sensors exhibited a maximum sensitivity to NO gas in dry air at an operating temperature as low as 100 oC. Additionally, these CuO thin film gas sensors were found to show reversible and reliable electrical response to NO gas in a range of operating temperatures from 60 oC to 200 oC. It is supposed from these results that the ptype oxide semiconductor CuO thin film could have significant potential for use in future gas sensors and other oxide electronics applications using oxide p-n heterojunction structures.

Most TCOs such as ITO, AZO(Al-doped ZnO), FTO(F-doped SnO2) etc., which have been widely used in LCD,touch panel, solar cell, and organic LEDs etc. as transparent electrode material reveal n-type conductivity. But in order to realizetransparent circuit, transparent p-n junction, and introduction of transparent p-type materials are prerequisite. Additionalprerequisite condition is optical transparency in visible spectral region. Oxide based materials usually have a wide optical band-gap more than ~3.0eV. In this study, single-phase transparent semiconductor of SrCu2O2, which shows p-type conductivity, havebeen synthesized by 2-step solid state reaction at 950oC under N2 atmosphere, and single-phase SrCu2O2 thin films of p-typeTCOs have been deposited by RF magnetron sputtering on alkali-free glass substrate from single-phase target at 500oC, 1%H2/(Ar+H2) atmosphere. 3% H2/(Ar+H2) resulted in formation of second phases. Hall measurements confirmed the p-typenature of the fabricated SrCu2O2 thin films. The electrical conductivity, mobility of carrier and carrier density 5.27×10−2S/cm,2.2cm2/Vs, 1.53×1017/cm3 a room temperature, respectively. Transmittance and optical band-gap of the SrCu2O2 thin filmsrevealed 62% at 550nm and 3.28eV. The electrical and optical properties of the obtained SrCu2O2 thin films deposited by RFmagnetron sputtering were compared with those deposited by PLD and e-beam.

Hydroxide법으로 α-주산산(stannic acid)을 만든후, 하고온도를 500˚C~1100˚C로 조정하여 일차입자(Crystallite)크기가 8-54nm인 SnO2 분말을 제작하였다. 분말의 입자(drystalite)클기에 따른 분말특성와 H2, CO가스(0.5v/o)에 대한 감응성 미치공기중에서의 저상변화특성에 미치는 영향을 조사하였다. 입자크기가 감소함에 따라, 분말의 FTIR 흡습특성은 증가하였으나, 격자상수는 일정하였다. 후막소자에서, H2가스에 대해 최대감도를 나타내는 온도와 공기중에서 최소저항을 나타내는 온도는 입자크기가 미세해짐에 따라 점차 낮아졌다. 최소저항점과 최대감도점의 온도저하를 산소흡착종의 활성화에너지의 감소라고 유추하였고, 이러한 에너지의 감소가 미세입자에 의한 감도향상요인 중의 한가지라고 제의하였다.

In this study, we evaluated the photocatalytic oxidation efficiency of aromatic volatile hydrocarbons by using WO3–doped TiO2 nanotubes (WTNTs) under visible-light irradiation. One-dimensional WTNTs were synthesized by ultrasonic-assisted hydrothermal method and impregnation. XRD analysis revealed successful incorporation of WO3 into TiO2 nanotube (TNT) structures. UV-Vis spectra exhibited that the synthesized WTNT samples can be activated under visible light irradiation. FE-SEM and TEM images showed the one-dimensional structure of the prepared TNTs and WTNTs. The photocatalytic oxidation efficiencies of toluene, ethylbenzene, and o-xylene were higher using WTNT samples than undoped TNT. These results were explained based on the charge separation ability, adsorption capability, and light absorption of the sample photocatalysts. Among the different light sources, light-emitting-diodes (LEDs) are more highly energy-efficient than 8-W daylight used for the photocatalytic oxidation of toluene, ethylbenzene, and o-xylene, though the photocatalytic oxidation efficiency is higher for 8-W daylight.