CO and C₃H₈ Sensitivity Behavior of Zinc Antimonate Prepared by a Microwave‐Assisted Solution Method

Abstract

ZnSb2O6has been synthesized by a microwave-assisted solution method in order to test its possible application as a gas sensor. Zinc nitrate, antimony trichloride, and ethylenediamine were used as precursors and deionized water as solvent. Microwave radiation, with a power of ~350 W, was applied for solvent evaporation. The thermal decomposition of the precursors leads to the formation of ZnSb2O6at 600°C. This oxide crystallized in a tetragonal structure with cell parametersa=4.66 Å,c=9.26 Å and space groupP42/mnm. Microwires and microrods formed by nanocrystals were observed by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopies (SEM and TEM, resp.). Pellets of the oxide were tested as gas sensors in flowing atmospheres of carbon monoxide (CO) and propane (C3H8). Sensitivity increased with the gas concentration (0–300 ppm) and working temperatures (ambient, 150 and 250°C) increase. The results indicate high sensitivity of ZnSb2O6in both gases at different concentrations and operating temperatures.

Gas Sensing Properties of NiSb2O6 Micro- and Nanoparticles in Propane and Carbon Monoxide Atmospheres

“…Some authors obtained similar morphologies to those presented here, reporting that by such synthesis method it is possible to have a better control during the particle nucleation and growth processes, producing materials with desirable morphologies [31][32][33]. Therefore, the microstructures obtained are in accordance with the crystallization criteria described by LaMer and Dinegar [14,15,25,26,34], which establish that the crystallization of stable nuclei provokes a strong chemical reaction (the colloidal dispersion), which makes it possible to obtain inorganic materials with different morphologies.…”

“…For example, SnO 2 showed in [11] maximum responses of ∼0.4 and ∼0.6 at concentrations of 100 and 500 ppm of propane at 300 ∘ C, respectively. In our case, the highest response was of ∼1.125 at a C 3 H 8 concentration of 500 ppm and of ∼2.14 at a CO concentration of 300 ppm, both at 300 ∘ C. In addition, we have previously reported [14,15,25,27] that the trirutile-type Journal of Nanomaterials …”

Facile Synthesis, Microstructure, and Gas Sensing Properties of NdCoO3 Nanoparticles

“…The gas sensitivity results were compared with similar metal oxides finding that we have succeeded in obtaining a [36]. Mesoporous CoSb 2 O 6 nanoparticles presented maximum sensitivity values of ∼7 (CO) and ∼4.8 (propane) at 350 ∘ C and a gas concentration of 300 ppm [37].…”

“…In those studies, the ethylenediamine forms complexes with transition metals, which connect each other, and 1D structures like nanowires and nanotubes are obtained through a condensation reaction [34]. Recently, there have been synthesized mixed oxides with trirutile-type structure by "soft" chemistry methods in the presence of ethylenediamine, for example: MgSb 2 O 6 nanorods [35], nanostructured ZnSb 2 O 6 microbars [36], and interconnected (through neck-like structures) mesoporous CoSb 2 O 6 nanoparticles [37]. We found by using our proposed method that NdCoO 3 nanoparticles can be processed with sponge-like morphology to form long chains due to the connectivity between them.…”

Synthesis Characterization of Nanostructured ZnCo2O4 with High Sensitivity to CO Gas

“…Recently, the colloidal route assisted by microwave radiation has provided an efficient and low cost synthesis method to obtain different types of nanostructured materials [28][29][30][31]. In this simple synthetic process, the addition of a surfactant agent plays a key role in the material's microstructure because the surfactant's ligands adsorb on the particles' surface inhibiting the particle growth and modifying the particles' microstructure [31][32][33][34]. Also, microwave radiation provides a rapid evaporation of the precursor solvent and a short reaction time in comparison with conventional heating [35,36].…”