Detection of ethanol gas at room temperature by In2O3-based screen-printed films fabricated through particle-free aqueous solution combustible inks

Abstract

The current work investigates the room temperature ethanol gas detection capabilities of pristine, Sn-doped, Zn-doped, Sn & Zn co-doped In<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf>-based screen-printed films, fabricated using particle-free aqueous solution combustible inks on glass substrates. The fabricated films were pure, polycrystalline with cubic bixbyite crystal structure, porous, and transparent (∼75 to 95%) in the visible range. Relatively high surface roughness was detected in pristine film than in doped films. Ethanol gas was detected by all the films at room temperature. Among all, the pristine film showed a relatively greater gas response at all concentrations of ethanol gas ranging from 25 ppm to 100 ppm. This superior gas response was attributed to comparatively greater oxygen vacancy concentration (O<inf>V</inf>/O<inf>L</inf>), relative area fraction of surface adsorbed oxygen (% of O<inf>A</inf>), and high surface roughness with porosity. The maximum ethanol gas response attained was ∼17 at 100 ppm concentration by the pristine film, which also demonstrated high selectivity to ethanol gas. © 2024 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.