Improved Carbon Monoxide Sensing Properties of CuO Electrospun Nanofibers

Sensitivity and selectivity of gas sensors have improved with the use of Metal-oxide semiconductor [1]. It is well-known that chemical gas sensor performance features such as time response, stability, selectivity, durability, sensitivity, reproducibility and reversibility are largely influenced by the properties of the sensing materials used [2]. The electrospinning process was used for CuO nanofibers synthesis. We used a polymeric solution, which is a mixture of the CuCl2.6HO, Poly vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and solvent. eventually, nanofibers were calcined to remove organic compounds at temperatures of 400°C for 2h. The structure and morphology of nanofibers were characterized by various techniques such as FT- IR, XRD, SEM and EDX. The FT-IR analysis was performed to confirm the presence of characteristic vibrational peaks pertaining to CuO nanofibers. The XRD spectroscopy confirmed the crystalline structure of CuO monoclinic [3]. During the gas sensing experiment, response and selectivity of CuO-based sensors for detection of CO were studied. The sensors responses were measured in presence of 350 ppm CO at the 175°C. The short response time and the short recovery time and excellent repeatability were the features of these sensors. Also these sensors had good selectivity and give a very small response to ethanol, methanol, acetaldehyde, aldehyde and n-hexane. Consequently, nanofibers CuO, due to porous configuration, is an attractive proposition for advanced CO measurement.