title: CuO/ZnO nanocomposite gas sensors developed by a plasma-assisted route.
abstract: CuO/ZnO nanocomposites were synthesized on Al(2)O(3) substrates by a hybrid plasma-assisted approach, combining the initial growth of ZnO columnar arrays by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PE-CVD) and subsequent radio frequency (RF) sputtering of copper, followed by final annealing in air. Chemical, morphological, and structural analyses revealed the formation of high-purity nanosystems, characterized by a controllable dispersion of CuO particles into ZnO matrices. The high surface-to-volume ratio of the obtained materials, along with intimate CuO/ZnO intermixing, resulted in the efficient detection of various oxidizing and reducing gases (such as O(3), CH(3)CH(2)OH, and H(2)). The obtained data are critically discussed and interrelated with the chemical and physical properties of the nanocomposites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Padova University and INSTM, 35131 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Quentin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barreca
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gasparotto
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maccato
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tondello
authors.forename: Cinzia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sada
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Comini
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sberveglieri
authors.forename: Manish
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Anjana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Devi
authors.forename: Roland A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Fischer