Fabrication of iron titanium oxide thin film and its application as opto-electronic humidity and liquefied petroleum gas sensors

• Iron titanium oxide nanocomposite was synthesized using sol–gel route.
• Sensing thin film was deposited on the base of equilateral prism.
• Crystallite size of iron titanium oxide was found 9 nm.
• Fabricated opto-electronic humidity sensor shows maximum sensitivity 4.5 μW/%RH.
• Enhanced sensitivity in comparison to earlier reported LPG sensors.

Present paper explores the synthesis, characterization, and opto-electronic humidity as well as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sensing applications of iron titanium oxide nanocomposite. Thin film of iron titanium oxide was deposited on an equilateral borosilicate glass prism using sol–gel spin coating process. X-ray diffraction reveals the formation of iron titanium oxide having minimum crystallite size 9 nm. The opto-electronic humidity sensing properties of the fabricated film were investigated at different angles of incidence of the light. It was observed that the intensity of reflected light increased with an increase in relative humidity (%RH) in the range 5–95. The fabricated film shows maximum sensitivity 4.5 μW/%RH, which is quite significant for sensor fabrication purposes. The maximum percentage sensor response for LPG was found 2600 which is many folds more than the earlier reported titania based LPG sensor.