A novel room temperature ethanol sensor based on catalytic Fe activated porous WO3 microspheres

• First report on room temperature ethanol sensitivity of Fe activated WO3
• XRD reveals single crystalline (200) preferential orientation.
• Spherical particles exhibit porous nanostructured composite after Fe addition.
• Catalytic Fe promotes sensitivity of WO3 towards ethanol.

We report the room temperature ethanol sensitivity of pristine WO3 and Fe activated WO3 microspheres architecture prepared by a novel spray pyrolysis method. The films exhibit single crystalline nature with preferentially oriented (200) plane along c-axis direction. Optical spectra show shift in the band edge towards longer wavelength after Fe incorporation. SEM revealed the formation of a smooth surface area of WO3 with uniformly distributed spherical particles, which changed to porous nanostructured composition with good crystal quality after Fe doping. Gas sensing mechanism and enhancement of ethanol sensing performance of the WO3 film with catalytic Fe addition were discussed.

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