Preparation and characterisation of ZnFe2O4/ZnO polymer nanocomposite sensors for the detection of alcohol vapours

During the last 10 years, a large interest has developed in the preparation of nanocomposite structures by embedding inorganic nanoparticles into polymeric materials. These materials combine the properties of the inorganic fillers with the processability and flexibility of polymers. The versatility of polymer nanocomposite systems is of special interest to the gas sensor industry where arrays of polymer/carbon black composites have been used to identify gases and odours. These polymer gas sensors provide selectivity based on their chemical structures and operate at room temperature, which provide advantages over thick-film metal oxide gas sensors. ZnFe2O4 and ZnO have excellent stability, high sensitivity, low fabrication complexity and moderate operating temperatures, which are ideal properties for a gas sensing material. In this work, the development of a thick-film ZnFe2O4/ZnO sensor, which operates at room temperature and a drop-coated conducting polymer composite sensor containing 30 w/w% ZnFe2O4/ZnO nanoparticles is discussed. The sensors were tested in a fully automated test rig and showed promising results for the detection of alcohol vapours.