title: Gas sensing with gold-decorated vertically aligned carbon nanotubes.
abstract: Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes of different lengths (150, 300, 500 µm) synthesized by thermal chemical vapor deposition and decorated with gold nanoparticles were investigated as gas sensitive materials for detecting nitrogen dioxide (NO2) at room temperature. Gold nanoparticles of about 6 nm in diameter were sputtered on the top surface of the carbon nanotube forests to enhance the sensitivity to the pollutant gas. We showed that the sensing response to nitrogen dioxide depends on the nanotube length. The optimum was found to be 300 µm for getting the higher response. When the background humidity level was changed from dry to 50% relative humidity, an increase in the response to NO2 was observed for all the sensors, regardless of the nanotube length.
authors.affiliation: Research group on Carbon Nanostructures (CARBONNAGe), University of Namur, Belgium.
authors.forename: Prasantha R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Mudimela
authors.affiliation: Chimie des Interactions Plasma-Surface (ChIPS), CIRMAP, Research Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Mattia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scardamaglia
authors.affiliation: MINOS-EMaS, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.
authors.forename: Oriol
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: González-León
authors.affiliation: Research group on Carbon Nanostructures (CARBONNAGe), University of Namur, Belgium.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Reckinger
authors.affiliation: Chimie des Interactions Plasma-Surface (ChIPS), CIRMAP, Research Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Rony
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Snyders
authors.affiliation: MINOS-EMaS, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.
authors.forename: Eduard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Llobet
authors.affiliation: Chimie des Interactions Plasma-Surface (ChIPS), CIRMAP, Research Institute for Materials Science and Engineering, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bittencourt
authors.affiliation: Research group on Carbon Nanostructures (CARBONNAGe), University of Namur, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Colomer
keywords: alignment; carbon nanotubes; decoration; gas sensors; metal nanoparticles; thermal CVD