Pd-decorated ZnO and WO3 nanowires for sensing applications

In this work the recent advances on Pd nanoparticles deposition by electroless deposition technique (EDT) onto ZnO and WO₃ nanowires applied to gas sensing applications is reported. The reported nano-structured materials have been synthesized using combinations of conventional CSVT, thermal oxidation and electroless techniques. The CSVT and thermal oxidation techniques were used to obtain ZnO and WO₃ metal-oxide nanowires with excellent gas sensing properties. The sensibility was improved by the deposition of Pd nano-particles using a variant of the nobility of EDT. The metallic nature of Pd particle was corroborated by XRD and Raman Scattering (RS). Dynamical-responses to single hydrogen (H₂), water vapor (H₂O) and Carbon dioxide (CO₂) gaseous species using a 4500 PPMv pulse were satisfactory tested by the measure of their electrical resistance change.