Effects of surface roughness on hydrogen gas sensing properties of single Pd nanowires

We report on the effects of surface roughness resulting from an ion milling technique on the hydrogen gas sensing performance of a single Pd nanowire grown by electrodeposition into nanochannels in anodized aluminum oxide templates. A combination of electron beam lithography and a lift-off process was utilized to fabricate four-terminal devices based on individual Pd nanowires. These results are the first demonstration of the effect of ion milling on the response time in a single Pd nanowire used as a hydrogen sensor. The response time of the single Pd nanowire surface-treated by ion milling was 20 times faster than that of a sample without surface treatment. The faster response time was due to the surface roughness effects of the surface treatment, an increase in the surface-to-volume ratio of the ion-milled nanowire.     

Enhanced gas sensing by individual SnO2 nanowires and nanobelts functionalized with Pd catalyst particles

The sensing ability of individual SnO(2) nanowires and nanobelts configured as gas sensors was measured before and after functionalization with Pd catalyst particles. In situ deposition of Pd in the same reaction chamber in which the sensing measurements were carried out ensured that the observed modification in behavior was due to the Pd functionalization rather than the variation in properties from one nanowire to another. Changes in the conductance in the early stages of metal deposition (i.e., before metal percolation) indicated that the Pd nanoparticles on the nanowire surface created Schottky barrier-type junctions resulting in the formation of electron depletion regions within the nanowire, constricting the effective conduction channel and reducing the conductance. Pd-functionalized nanostructures exhibited a dramatic improvement in sensitivity toward oxygen and hydrogen due to the enhanced catalytic dissociation of the molecular adsorbate on the Pd nanoparticle surfaces and the subsequent diffusion of the resultant atomic species to the oxide surface.     

氧化钨纳米线敏感膜对CO气体的气敏性能

采用丝网印刷法制备了氧化钨纳米线敏感膜,系统研究了不同热处理温度下敏感膜的结构、形貌以及对CO气体的气敏性能.结果表明,氧化钨纳米线敏感膜具有较高的结构稳定性,经450℃热处理后其结晶取向和结构均未发生变化;热处理温度的升高有助于提高敏感膜的晶化程度,同时导致其表面的氧化钨纳米棒逐渐变短、变粗直至消失,并最终形成较大的纳米颗粒;经300℃热处理的敏感膜在300℃时对1×10 叫CO气体具有最佳的气敏性能,其灵敏度为17.64,响应时间为8s,恢复时间为16s.     

纳米ZnO气敏元件对H2的测定研究

以采用物理热蒸发法制备的纯ZnO纳米线以及Ag掺杂ZnO纳米线为气敏基料制备成旁热式气敏元件,用静态配气法对不同浓度的H2进行气敏性能测试。利用测试结果,绘制元件灵敏度与所测气体浓度的关系曲线,并对此曲线进行了线性拟合。结果表明,Ag掺杂纳米ZnO元件与纯纳米ZnO元件相比会明显提高对H2的灵敏度,两类元件的气敏性能与所测气体浓度呈现相同的变化规律。用拟合方程计算出的气体浓度值与实际检测值间吻合较好,误差小于10%。因此,可以利用这两类元件及其拟合直线对H2气体浓度进行测定。     

Hyperbranched PbS and PbSe nanowires and the effect of hydrogen gas on their synthesis

We report a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis of hyperbranched single-crystal nanowires of both PbS and PbSe using PbCl2 and S/Se as precursors under hydrogen flow. Multiple generations of nanowires grow perpendicularly from the previous generation of nanowires in an epitaxial fashion to produce dense clusters of a complex nanowire network structure. The flow rate and duration of the hydrogen co-flow in the argon carrier gas during the CVD reactions are found to have a significant effect on the morphology of the PbS/PbSe grown, from hyperbranched nanowires to micrometer-sized cubes. No intentional catalyst was employed for the nanowire synthesis, but it is suggested that elemental lead that has been reduced from the vapor by the hydrogen might serve as a vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) catalyst for the anisotropic growth of PbS/PbSe. The nanowires were also investigated with Raman spectroscopy. These PbS and PbSe nanostructures can have applications in photovoltaics because multiple exciton generation has been demonstrated in nanocrystals of both materials.     

Functionalizing nanowires with catalytic nanoparticles for gas sensing application

Metal oxide semiconducting nanowires are among the most promising materials systems for use as conductometric gas sensors. These systems function by converting surface chemical processes, often catalytic processes, into observable conductance variations in the nanowire. The surface properties, and hence the sensing properties of these devices can be altered dramatically improving the sensitivity and selectivity, by the deposition of catalytic metal nanoparticles on the nanowire's surface. This leads not only to promising sensor strategies but to a route for understanding some of the fundamental science occurring on these nanoparticles and at the metal/nanowire junction. In particular studying these systems can lead to a better understanding of the influence of the catalyst particle on the electronic structure of the nanowire and its electron transport. This report surveys results obtained so far in this area. In particular, the comparative sensing performance of single quasi-1D chemiresistors (i.e., nanowires or nanobelts) before and after surface decoration with noble metal catalyst particles show significant improvement in sensitivity toward oxidizing and reducing gases. Moreover, one finds that the sensing mechanism can depend dramatically on the degree of metal coverage of the nanowire.     

Hydrogen gas sensor using Pd nanowires electro-deposited into anodized alumina template

This paper demonstrates a new kind of hydrogen sensor using palladium (Pd) nanowires. Hydrogen sensors using Pd metal have usually been utilizing the incremental change in electrical resistance of Pd upon hydrogen incorporation. Unlike the conventional Pd hydrogen sensors, however, the electrical resistance of the present Pd nanowire sensor decreases when hydrogen is incorporated into Pd nanowires. It is considered to be due to swelling of the nanowires as the result of hydrogen incorporation and subsequent narrowing of gaps between the nanowires, even though each nanowire should have had the higher resistance inherently. Because of extraordinarily high surface area of nanowires, the performance of sensing the hydrogen concentration was found to superior by far to the conventional Pd sensors. The response and recovery times are quite fast to be about 0.7 and 20 s, respectively and the sensing range of 0.2 /spl sim/ 1% 1% hydrogen concentration is suitable for the hydrogen safety sensors. The sensor introduced in this paper is unique with regard to both the sensing mechanism and performance.     

Nanoantenna-enhanced gas sensing in a single tailored nanofocus

Metallic nanostructures possess plasmonic resonances that spatially confine light on the nanometre scale. In the ultimate limit of a single nanostructure, the electromagnetic field can be strongly concentrated in a volume of only a few hundred nm(3) or less. This optical nanofocus is ideal for plasmonic sensing. Any object that is brought into this single spot will influence the optical nanostructure resonance with its dielectric properties. Here, we demonstrate antenna-enhanced hydrogen sensing at the single-particle level. We place a single palladium nanoparticle near the tip region of a gold nanoantenna and detect the changing optical properties of the system on hydrogen exposure by dark-field microscopy. Our method avoids any inhomogeneous broadening and statistical effects that would occur in sensors based on nanoparticle ensembles. Our concept paves the road towards the observation of single catalytic processes in nanoreactors and biosensing on the single-molecule level.     

铅纳米线熔化温度的尺寸效应研究

利用分子动力学的方法研究了Pb纳米线熔化温度的尺寸效应.研究表明,纳米线的熔化温度随着尺寸的减小而降低,纳米线的熔化过程从表面开始,并逐渐向中心趋近.纳米线在熔化过程中,温度也在逐渐升高,这不同于块体材料.Pb纳米线熔化温度的变化量与相同尺寸Pb纳米薄膜的变化量之比为2:1.另外,Pb纳米线的热力学稳定结构存在一个临界尺寸S(2nm＜S＜2.5nm),尺寸＜S,Pb纳米线的稳定结构是晶态,而＜S则为非晶态.     

Hydrogen gas sensing with networks of ultrasmall palladium nanowires formed on filtration membranes

Hydrogen sensors based on single Pd nanowires show promising results in speed, sensitivity, and ultralow power consumption. The utilization of single Pd nanowires, however, face challenges in nanofabrication, manipulation, and achieving ultrasmall transverse dimensions. We report on hydrogen sensors that take advantage of single palladium nanowires in high speed and sensitivity and that can be fabricated conveniently. The sensors are based on networks of ultrasmall (<10 nm) palladium nanowires deposited onto commercially available filtration membranes. We investigated the sensitivities and response times of these sensors as a function of the thickness of the nanowires and also compared them with a continuous reference film. The superior performance of the ultrasmall Pd nanowire network based sensors demonstrates the novelty of our fabrication approach, which can be directly applied to palladium alloy and other hydrogen sensing materials.     

Morphology tuned ZnS nanostructures for hydrogen gas sensing

In this paper we present the effect of dimensionality of ZnS nanostructures on hydrogen gas sensing characteristics. Vapor Liquid Solid growth mode was employed to synthesize ZnS nanostructures with different dimensions by controlling the growth parameters, i.e., variation in the substrate temperature and the carrier gas flow rate. The growth was explained by using the chemical tension model and the saturation conditions were determined for each growth. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to determine the phase, shape, size and density of the nanostructures. Optical properties of nanostructures also confirmed the presence of different phases of ZnS. A variety of these nanostructures were tested for hydrogen gas sensing. The rapid response time was obtained for nanowires in few hundred millisecond’s range with a sensitivity of 8, which was due to its high aspect ratio as compared to the other nanostructures.     

Theoretical study on sensing performance of hydrogen annealed silicon waveguides

Due to the surface diffusion movement of Si atom in hydrogen annealing process, the sharply formed corners of waveguides will be rounded and its sidewall profile could be reformed. In this paper, the performances of microring sensors based on three different gradual annealed structures, strip with large/small round corners and cylinder waveguide, are investigated theoretically. Characteristic parameters of sensors based on cylinder waveguide, sensitivity, Q factor, and measuring range are analyzed and compared with that of sensors based on the widely-used strip and slot waveguides. Simulation results demonstrate that the sensitivity of microring is significantly increased after annealing with comparable Q factor and measuring range. The hydrogen annealing process promises a feasible and effective method to improve the performance of biosensors in the future.     

Enhanced field emission from the ZnO nanowires by hydrogen gas exposure

ZnO nanowires (ZNWs) were synthesized on Co-coated Si wafer via a carbon thermal reduction vapor transport method. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy investigations show that these ZNWs present a high-quality single-crystalline hexagonal structure. Field emission (FE) characteristics of the ZNWs film were measured. A low turn-on voltage for driving a current density of 0.1 μA/cm² is about 3.9 V/μm. The field enhancement factor was determined to be ∼ 1180 for ZNWs film. Exposure of H₂ during FE causes a permanent increase in the FE current and a decrease in the turn-on field. Also, the field enhancement factor γ was finally increased from 1180 ± 20 to 1510 ± 20 after FE saturation.     

The effect of adsorbates on the space-charge-limited current in single ZnO nanowires

We studied the influence of adsorbates on the space-charge-limited current (SCLC) in individual ZnO nanowires through varying the bias voltage, laser illumination, and ambient pressure. In dark and air conditions, the free carriers were depleted by the surface adsorbates, and electrons injected from the electrode to the nanowire dominated the electron transport properties. Under laser illumination, the current-voltage characteristic was linear at low voltage and superlinear at high voltage, and the SCLC regime occurred at high voltages due to the surface desorption. The time response of photoconductivity further revealed the dynamic process of elimination of SCLC by desorption of oxygen molecules at the ZnO nanowire surface.     

Local vapor transport synthesis of zinc oxide nanowires for ultraviolet-enhanced gas sensing

A novel local vapor transport technique via induction heating is presented to enable selective, localized synthesis and self-assembly of nanowires, providing a simple and fast method for the direct integration of nanowires into functional devices. The single-crystalline zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires are grown locally across the silicon-on-insulator microelectrodes within minutes, and the enhancement of gas sensing of ZnO nanowires is demonstrated under ultraviolet (UV) illumination at room temperature. Experiments indicate that when suspended nanowires are exposed to UV light, a twelve-fold increase in conductance and a near five-fold improvement in oxygen response are measured. Furthermore, the UV-enhanced transient responses exhibit a two-level photocurrent decay attributed to carrier recombination and oxygen readsorption. As such, the local vapor transport synthesis and UV-enhanced sensing scheme could provide a promising approach for the construction of miniaturized and highly responsive nanowire-based gas sensors.     

Selective gas sensing with a single pristine graphene transistor

We show that vapors of different chemicals produce distinguishably different effects on the low-frequency noise spectra of graphene. It was found in a systematic study that some gases change the electrical resistance of graphene devices without changing their low-frequency noise spectra while other gases modify the noise spectra by inducing Lorentzian components with distinctive features. The characteristic frequency f(c) of the Lorentzian noise bulges in graphene devices is different for different chemicals and varies from f(c) = 10-20 Hz to f(c) = 1300-1600 Hz for tetrahydrofuran and chloroform vapors, respectively. The obtained results indicate that the low-frequency noise in combination with other sensing parameters can allow one to achieve the selective gas sensing with a single pristine graphene transistor. Our method of gas sensing with graphene does not require graphene surface functionalization or fabrication of an array of the devices with each tuned to a certain chemical.     

Finite size effect in spinodal decomposition of nanograined materials

Decomposition of solid solution taking into account the grain boundaries segregations is considered in the framework of generalized Cahn-Hilliard model for finite systems. Two types—“stripe” and “drop-wise”—of the surface-directed decomposition found below spinodal depend on concentration of a wetting component. We demonstrate that grain boundaries segregations are able to drastically change the phase equilibrium inside the grain when its size becomes less than the critical value. As a result, decomposition of the solid solutions easily appears for nanograined materials.     

Hydrogen gas sensing performance of Pd-Ni alloy thin films

We investigated the hydrogen (H₂) sensing properties of palladium (Pd)-nickel (Ni) alloy films with varying Ni content and discussed them in light of structural deformations. The Pd-Ni alloys operated reversibly upon H₂ absorption and desorption and their sensitivities decreased linearly with Ni content added to Pd. This was attributed to reduction in the lattice constant and interstitial volume caused by the Ni addition, allowing fewer hydrogen atoms to penetrate into the Pd-Ni alloy with higher Ni content. Interestingly, the response time of the Pd-Ni alloys was much shorter than that of pure Pd, presumably due to the fast permeation of hydrogen atoms through microscopic imperfections in the alloys. Unlike pure Pd, the Pd-Ni alloys showed an almost linear relationship between the sensitivity and H₂ concentration without hysteretic behaviors, enabling the detection of low concentration of H₂ down to 0.01%. These results provide a significant understanding of the role of Ni in the Pd-Ni thin films for improving the H₂ sensing properties of the Pd-based alloy film sensors.