Structural and gas sensing behavior of nanocrystalline BaTiO3 based liquid petroleum gas sensors

In this paper nanosized BaTiO3 thick films based gas sensor has been fabricated for liquid petroleum gas (LPG). Doping with different concentrations of metal oxides influenced the sensitivity of BaTiO3 thick films for LPG sensor. We present the characterization of both their structural properties by means of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and the electrical characteristics by using gas-sensing properties. X-ray powder diffraction analyses revealed the persistence of cubic phase with grain growth 65 nm. The LPG-sensing properties of BaTiO3 thick films doped with CuO and CdO are investigated. It was found that 10 wt.% CuO: 10 wt.% CdO doped BaTiO3 based LPG sensor shows better sensitivity and selectivity at an operating temperature 250 °C which is an important commercial range for LPG alarm development. Incorporation of 0.3 wt.% Pd doped CuO:CdO:BaTiO3 element shows maximum sensitivity with high cross selectivity to the other gases including CO, H2 and H2S at an operating temperature 225 °C for low concentrations of LPG sensor.