Sensor Performance of Nanostructured TiO2-Cr2O3 Thin Films Derived by a Particulate Sol-Gel Route with Various Cr:Ti Molar Ratios

Nanocrystalline and nanostructured TiO2-Cr2O3 thin films and powders were prepared by a facile and straightforward aqueous particulate sol-gel route at low temperature of 400A degrees C. The prepared sols showed a narrow particle size distribution with hydrodynamic diameter in the range of 17.7 nm to 19.0 nm. Moreover, the sols were stable over 4 months, with constant zeta potential measured during this period. The effect of the Cr:Ti molar ratio on the crystallization behavior of the products was studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that the powders crystallized at low temperature of 400A degrees C, containing anatase-TiO2, rutile-TiO2, and Cr2O3 phases, depending on the annealing temperature and Cr:Ti molar ratio. Furthermore, it was found that Cr2O3 retarded the anatase to rutile transformation up to 800A degrees C. The activation energy of crystallite growth was calculated to be in the range of 1.3 kJ/mol to 2.9 kJ/mol. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging showed that one of the smallest crystallite sizes was obtained for TiO2-Cr2O3 binary mixed oxide, being 5 nm at 500A degrees C. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) analysis revealed that the deposited thin films had nanostructured morphology with average grain size in the range of 20 nm to 40 nm at 500A degrees C. Thin films produced under optimized conditions showed excellent microstructural properties for gas sensing applications. They exhibited a remarkable response towards low concentrations of NO2 gas at low operating temperature of 200A degrees C, resulting in increased thermal stability of sensing films as well as a decrease in their power consumption. Furthermore, calibration curves revealed that TiO2-Cr2O3 sensors followed the power law (where S is the sensor response, the coefficients A and B are constants, and [gas] is the gas concentration) for two types of gas, exhibiting excellent capability for detection of low gas concentrations.