Vandna Luthra

Enhanced gas sensing performance of indium doped zinc oxide nanopowders

A series of indium doped ZnO (IZO) materials were fabricated, characterised and tested for their gas sensing properties. ZnO was synthesised with indium doping levels of 0.2, 0.5, 1 and 3 mol%. These were fabricated into gas sensors. Production took place using a commercially available screen printer, a 3 × 3 mm alumina substrate containing interdigitated electrodes and a platinum heater track. Materials were characterised using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Electrical conductivity of all samples was also calculated. Sensors were exposed to ethanol, methanol, n-butanol and acetone at concentrations between 5 and 80 ppm. Low levels of indium doping were found to increase the responsiveness of the sensors. However, higher levels of doping were found to inhibit conductivity and responsiveness to gases of IZO sensors. Sensors with low levels of indium doping were found to show minimal response to other gases, demonstrating a lack of cross sensitivity. These sensors show potential for inclusion into an electronic nose for with the aim of selective alcohol detection.

Electrical transport and EPR investigations: A comparative study for d.c. conduction mechanism in monovalent and multivalent ions doped polyaniline

A detailed comparative study of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) in conjunction with d.c. electrical conductivity has been undertaken to know about the charge transport mechanism in polyaniline (PANI) doped with monovalent and multivalent protonic acids. This work is in continuation of our previous work for further understanding the conduction mechanism in conducting polymers. The results reveal that the polarons and bipolarons are the main charge carriers formed during doping process and these cause increase in electrical conductivity not only by increase in their concentration but also because of their enhanced mobility due to increased inter-chain transport in polyaniline at high doping levels. EPR line asymmetry having Dysonian line shape for highly doped samples shows a marked deviation of amplitudes A/B ratio from values close to one to much high values as usually observed in metals, thereby support the idea of high conductivity at higher doping levels. The nature of dopant ions and their doping levels control the charge carriers concentration as well as electrical conductivity of polyaniline. The electrical conductivity has also been studied as a function of temperature to know the thermally assisted transport process of these charge carriers at different doping levels which has been found to follow the Mott’s variable range hopping (VRH) conduction model for all the three dopants used. The charge carriers show a change over from 3D VRH to quasi 1D VRH hopping process for multivalent ions at higher doping levels whereas 1D VRH has been followed by monovalent ion for full doping range. These studies collectively give evidence of inter-chain percolation at higher doping levels causing increase in effective mobility of the charge carriers which mainly seems to govern the electrical conduction behaviour in this system.

Study of Vibrational Spectra of Polyaniline Doped with Sulfuric Acid and Phosphoric Acid

Vibrational spectra of insulator emeraldine base (EB) form of polyaniline and electrical conductive sulfuric acid-and phosphoric acid-doped emeraldine salts (ES) were studied in the region of 4000-400 cm−1 at ambient temperature by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Infrared transmittance spectra of EB and ES were investigated to understand the bonding behavior of different organic and inorganic groups present in the polymeric chains and their structural variations on protonation by sulfate or phosphate ion inclusion in the polymer salt network. These studies revealed the para-coupling of deformed disubstituted benzenoid (B) and quinoid (Q) rings with ends capped predominantly by (B4Q1) units. The deformation of B and Q rings was confirmed by the appearance of many weak bands, very weak bands, and satellite structures in strong transmittance peaks of polymeric chain-constituting groups. Protonation takes place at the nitrogen sites of Q rings and forms semiquinone radical ions in ES. The vibrational bands pertaining to B rings, Q rings, B4Q1 units, semiquinone segment, sulfate ions, and phosphate ions were observed and assigned from these measurements. The shift in peak position of some bands with gain or loss in intensity and appearance of some new bands were observed in sulfuric acid-and phosphoric acid-doped ES spectra. These variations are attributed to the formation of new structural groups in ES on protonation and a change in crystalline field by sulfate and phosphate ion doping for crosslinking the polymeric chains.

Tuning operating temperature of BaSnO3 gas sensor for reducing and oxidizing gases

Barium stannate (BaSnO3) was prepared by solid state ceramic route. The crystalline phase of the prepared sample was confirmed by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) pattern. Gas sensing behaviour of barium stannate was investigated for reducing and oxidizing gases; such as butane, ethanol, CO and NO2; from 5 ppm to 50 ppm levels of concentration. Barium stannate sensors were optimized for highest responsiveness by varying operating temperature between 270 °C to 550 °C. Its highest response was observed for ethanol at 300°C. The gas sensing response of ethanol was better than other gases at all the operating temperatures. Such studies in conjunction with gas sensing tests can be used for setting the optimum operating temperatures and can be used for low concentration ethanol sensing applications.

Sol-Gel Derived Nanocrystalline Lanthanum Doped Lead Zirconate Titanate Thin Films Studied for Solitary Waves Propagation

Nanocrystalline PLZT thin films of composition Pb1-xLaxZr0.52Ti0.48 (x = 0, 2, 5%) were deposited on silicon substrates by sol-gel process using lead acetate trihydrate, lanthanum nitrate hydrate, zirconium propoxide and titanium propoxide as lead, lanthanum, zirconium and titanium precursor materials. Experimental studies have been made on solitary waves in 2 mol% lanthanum doped sol-gel derived lead zirconate titanate thin films. The solitary waves are generated under the influence of external alternating electric field, which has the same frequency as the external field. These solitary waves propagate through the thin film upto its boundary and then reflect back. The magnitude of the solitary waves attenuates as they move away from the electrodes and their phase reverses on reflection. For certain frequencies of the external electric field, solitary waves exhibit resonance effect. Distortion in hysteresis loops has been demonstrated on the basis of solitary waves propagation in the film having different electrode area.

Structural and Electrical Properties of Lead Zirconate Titanate 0–3 Composite Films

Modified sol-gel method alongwith the infilteration process have been used to deposit dense, crack-free ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) 0–3 ceramic/ceramic composite films of composition Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 and thickness greater than 10 μm onto a platinum coated silicon substrate. PZT powder with the same composition was dispersed using a dispersant ESL400 in PZT sol to obtain a slurry. The slurry and the sol were alternatively deposited on the substrate followed by drying, pyrolysis and final annealing at 750°C to get single phase perovskite structure of the film. Thickness of the film was determined by SEM. Surface morphology of the film was studied by AFM. Raman spectrum of the film depicts coexistence of rhombohedral and tetragonal phases. Temperature dependence of dielectric constant shows that the films exhibit diffused phase transition rather than relaxor behavior. The remanant polarization (Pr) and coercive field (Ec) of the resulting film are 13.5 μC/cm2 and 57 kV/cm respectively.

Dielectric and Ferroelectric Studies on Sol-Gel Derived Calcium Modified Lead Zirconate Titanate Ceramics

Bulk samples of Pb(1-x)CaxZr0.52Ti0.48O3 (x = 0,0.02,0.04,0.06,0.08,0.1) have been synthesized by sol-gel process using lead acetate trihydrate, calcium acetate hydrate, zirconium propoxide and titanium propoxide as the starting materials. The dependence of ferroelectric phase transition temperature Tc as a function of calcium substitution has been investigated. A linear decrease of Tc is observed with increasing calcium concentration. The variation of room temperature dielectric constant and that of maximum value of dielectric constant corresponding to the phase transition temperature are explained by the microstructural studies. XRD patterns of the samples show that all the compositions sintered at 1200°C are having single phase with perovskite structure. P-E hysteresis loop measurements showed that calcium modified PZT ceramics have higher Pr values than that of pure PZT composition prepared by sol-gel method. The composition with 4 mol% calcium has the highest value of Pr, 25.2 μC/cm2 and lowest Ec, 9.6 kV/cm.