Printed copper acetate based H2S sensor on paper substrate

Fully printed copper acetate based H2S sensors on paper are presented. The sensors show several orders of magnitude change in resistance (>108) when exposed to 10 ppm of H2S gas at room temperature. The effect of different solvents, film thickness and substrates (absorbing and nonabsorbing) have been studied to optimize the sensor response. The large resistance changes are associated with the difference in resistivity between the metal salt and the resulting metal sulfide. These sensors were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and conductometry. The low cost, low voltage (<5 V, which is the operating voltage of digital multimeter at high resistance), fast sensing response and room temperature operation of these sensors make them promising candidates for industrial use for example in the food packaging industry.