The effects of sintering temperature of MnCr2O4 nanocomposite on the NO2 sensing property for YSZ-based potentiometric sensor

In this paper, MnCr2O4 with spinel structure has been prepared by using polymeric precursor method. The thermal stability, grain size and surface morphology of MnCr2O4 calcined at different temperatures were studied using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimeter analysis (TG-DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Then the YSZ-based sensors using MnCr2O4 sintered at different temperatures (800, 900, 1000, 1100 and 1250 °C) as electrode were fabricated and their NO2 sensing properties were investigated. Results demonstrate that MnCr2O4 sample calcined at 1000 °C exhibits higher response to 100 ppm NO2, which is about 73 mV. It is believed that the calcined temperature affect the material's sensing properties. In addition, the sensing characteristics such as selectivity, repeatability were investigated.