Electrospun nickel oxide nanofibers for gas sensor application

Oxide gas sensor based on electrospun nanofibers were fabricated and studied in this paper. Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP)/Nickel acetate precursor nanofibers were electrospun, which were sintered into Nickel oxide (NiO) nanofibers with diameter in the range of 100 to 400 nm. The morphology and structure of NiO nanofiber were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The Gas sensing properties (C₃H₆O, C₂H₅OH and NH3) of NiO nanofibers were also investigated. The NiO nanofibers exhibited rapid response/recovery sensitivity with all the three target gases at room temperature. The response/recovery time of electrospun NiO nanofiber gas sensor for C₃H₆O, C₂H₅OH and NH₃ were 4/5.5s, 2.5/2s and 16/5s; and the sensitivity were 11.0, 15.9 and 72.3, respectively. These results suggest that the electrospun NiO nanofibers are promising for gas sensor applications.