Effects of O₂ plasma and UV-O₃ assisted surface activation on high sensitivity metal oxide functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube CH₄ sensors

Journal Article · 27 July 2017 · Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, Vacuum, Surfaces and Films

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4993579 · OSTI ID:1393949

Humayun, Md Tanim ^[1]; Sainato, Michela ^[1]; Divan, Ralu ^[2]; Rosenberg, Richard A. ^[2]; Sahagun, Alvaro ^[1]; Gundel, Lara ^[3]; Solomon, Paul A. ^[4]; Paprotny, Igor ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Illinois, at Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States)
2. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
3. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Las Vegas, NV (United States)

We present a comparative analysis of UV-O₃ (UVO) and O₂ plasma-based surface activation processes of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) enabling highly effective functionalization with metal oxide nanocrystals (MONCs). Experimental results from transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy show that by forming COOH (carboxyl), C-OH (hydroxyl), and C=O (carbonyl) groups on the MWCNT surface that act as active nucleation sites, O₂ plasma and UVO-based dry pre-treatment techniques greatly enhance the affinity between MWCNT surface and the functionalizing MONCs. MONCs, such as ZnO and SnO₂, deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique, were implemented as the functionalizing material following UVO and O₂ plasma activation of MWCNTs. In conclusion, a comparative study on the relative resistance changes of O₂ plasma and UVO activated MWCNT functionalized with MONC in the presence of 10 ppm methane (CH₄) in air, is presented as well.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22), Scientific User Facilities Division
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1393949
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1532266
• Journal Information: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, Vacuum, Surfaces and Films, Journal Name: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, Vacuum, Surfaces and Films Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 35; ISSN 0734-2101
• Publisher: American Vacuum SocietyCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English