Electrical properties and ethanol-sensing characteristics of perovskite La1 − xPbxFeO3

The nanocrystalline La1 − xPbxFeO3 (x = 0.0–0.50) powders with orthorhombic perovskite phase were prepared by a sol–gel method. The Pb-doping restrained the growth of the crystallite size. The electrical properties and ethanol-sensing characteristics of the La1 − xPbxFeO3 system were investigated. The results demonstrated that the resistance and conduction type (p- or n-type) of the perovskite oxides changed with the increasing composition x. Among the oxides with compositions of x = 0.30–0.50, La0.68Pb0.32FeO3 (x = 0.32) showed the best ethanol gas-sensing characteristics.