Study on the Effect of Humidity on Electrical Properties of Copper-Silica Aerogel

Copper-silica aerogel was synthesized by the sol-gel method and was heated at 400, 500 and 600°C for 3 h in the air. The gained materials were named as sample (a), (b) and (c) respectively. Then all samples were characterized by FE-SEM, EDX and FTIR spectroscopy. For resistance measurements the pulverized material was pressed to form a disk-type sensor. The measurements of resistance in the relative humidity range of 11.3-84.3% were performed for all samples. For the following experiments sample (a) was chosen. Then the response time and stability properties were examined. The response time of 7.5 minutes was obtained and the stability graphs showed that in the higher RH the sensor was more stable.