Fabrication of copper ferrite porous hierarchical nanostructures for an efficient liquefied petroleum gas sensor

The highly porous spinel copper ferrite (CuFe2O4) hierarchical nanostructures have been prepared by the sol-gel method. The growth of the hollow CuFe2O4 hierarchicals has been characterized by scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images. The fabricated CuFe2O4 thin film displays a uniform surface morphology of porous hierarchicals having diameters in the range of 10-15 nm. The possible growth mechanism of its formation has been suggested. The liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sensing capability of the fabricated nanostructure has been investigated at room temperature (25 °C). Sensing results show that the porous CuFe2O4 hierarchicals possess superb LPG sensing properties (in terms of sensor response, response and recovery times, reproducibility and stability) over other reported LPG sensors. The excellent response of CuFe2O4 towards LPG has been mainly ascribed to its porous structure and small size, which promotes the rapid diffusion of the LPG and increases the available active surface area of the film.