Zinc Oxide Thin Film Prepared by Micro-Dropping Chemical Method on QCM for Gas Sensing
Y. Bakha, H. Khales
DMN, Centre de Développement des Technologies Avancées, cité du 20 août 1956 Baba Hassen, Algiers, Algeria
Received: May 13, 2019; revised version June 11, 2019; in final form September 12, 2019
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The paper presents fabrication and characterization of ZnO coated on a quartz crystal microbalance for gas sensing at room temperature. The ZnO thin films were chemically deposited as sensitive layer on the top of the QCM by micro-dropping technique. The morphology of the coated thin film was examined by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction in order to analyze the crystalline nature of the structure. The ZnO coated on a quartz crystal microbalance sensor showed a good sensitivity to the gases tested: ethanol, acetone, and humidity. High sensitivity was obtained for ethanol vapor more than acetone, with good reproducibility and stability of the sensor when exposed to different concentrations given respectively 50, 100, 200 ppm. The influence of humidity was examined under different relative humidity. The results indicate that the ZnO coated on a QCM shows a high response and fast response/recovery characteristics under humidity comparing to ethanol and acetone vapor.

DOI:10.12693/APhysPolA.136.490
topics: micro-dropping deposition, zinc oxide, gas sensor, quartz crystal microbalance