Ce-doped LaCoO3film as a promising gas sensor for ethanol

Abstract

With increasing exposure to ethanol in various scenarios, including hand sanitizers that combat bacteria and viruses, energy-efficient miniaturized sensors capable of detecting excessive concentrations of ethanol are required in the fields of disinfection and chemical storage. Modified perovskite-type oxides with ABO3 structures are particularly attractive because they can be appropriately modified and have been used in heterogeneous catalysis and gas sensors. In this study, we designed and manufactured a novel thin-film-type LaCeCoO3 gas sensor using lithography technology and precursor-solution doping. The samples exhibited morphologies that contain randomly oriented nanostructures and short rods; the particle size was observed to decrease with Ce-addition. Room-temperature gas-sensing characterization studies revealed high reproducibility for the detection of ethanol. La0.96Ce0.04CoO3 exhibited superior stability and sensitivity, with a high impedance, |Z|, of ∼120 kω and a Δ|Z| of up to 77%, with response and recovery times of 16 and 8 s, respectively. This study provides a rational method for the development of LaCeCoO3 as a semiconducting material for ethanol gas-sensing applications.