Chapter 14
Directional Synthesis of SnO 2 -Based
Nanostructures for Use in Gas Sensors
Svitlana Nahirniak, Tetiana Dontsova, and Ihor Astrelin
14.1 General
14.1.1 Introduction
Among the wide range of semiconductor metal oxides, a nanocrystalline tin (IV)
oxide is considered as an effective sensor material due to a combination of its
electrophysical parameters. Firstly, SnO 2 is a wide-band n-type semiconductor
(E = 3.6 eV) [1], and therefore its electrical conductivity is extremely sensitive
to the state of the surface just in the temperature range (300 ÷ 800 K), in which
molecules adsorbed on the surface actively engage in chemical reactions. Secondly,
the surface of the tin (IV) oxide has high adsorption properties and reactivity, which
is caused by the presence of free electrons in the conduction band, by surface and
volume oxygen vacancies, and also by active chemosorbed oxygen [2].
Nevertheless, sensors manufactured on the SnO 2 basis do not possess sufficient
sensitivity and selectivity [3, 4], which limit their use. To improve these characteristics, different approaches are used: reducing the particles size of sensitive layers
[5]; modifying [6, 7], doping [8, 9], and creating SnO 2 composite structures [10,
S. Nahirniak ()
National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Faculty of
Chemical Technology, Kyiv, Ukraine
T. Dontsova
Department of Inorganic Substances Technology, Water Treatment and General Chemical
Engineering, National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic
Institute”, Kyiv, Ukraine
I. Astrelin
Department of Chemistry, National Technical University of Ukraine “KPI”, Kyiv, Ukraine
e-mail: i.m.astrelin@xtf.kpi.ua
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
O. Fesenko, L. Yatsenko (eds.), Nanochemistry, Biotechnology, Nanomaterials,
and Their Applications, Springer Proceedings in Physics 214,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92567-7_14
233
Directional Synthesis of SnO 2 -Based
Nanostructures for Use in Gas Sensors
Svitlana Nahirniak, Tetiana Dontsova, and Ihor Astrelin
14.1 General
14.1.1 Introduction
Among the wide range of semiconductor metal oxides, a nanocrystalline tin (IV)
oxide is considered as an effective sensor material due to a combination of its
electrophysical parameters. Firstly, SnO 2 is a wide-band n-type semiconductor
(E = 3.6 eV) [1], and therefore its electrical conductivity is extremely sensitive
to the state of the surface just in the temperature range (300 ÷ 800 K), in which
molecules adsorbed on the surface actively engage in chemical reactions. Secondly,
the surface of the tin (IV) oxide has high adsorption properties and reactivity, which
is caused by the presence of free electrons in the conduction band, by surface and
volume oxygen vacancies, and also by active chemosorbed oxygen [2].
Nevertheless, sensors manufactured on the SnO 2 basis do not possess sufficient
sensitivity and selectivity [3, 4], which limit their use. To improve these characteristics, different approaches are used: reducing the particles size of sensitive layers
[5]; modifying [6, 7], doping [8, 9], and creating SnO 2 composite structures [10,
S. Nahirniak ()
National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, Faculty of
Chemical Technology, Kyiv, Ukraine
T. Dontsova
Department of Inorganic Substances Technology, Water Treatment and General Chemical
Engineering, National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic
Institute”, Kyiv, Ukraine
I. Astrelin
Department of Chemistry, National Technical University of Ukraine “KPI”, Kyiv, Ukraine
e-mail: i.m.astrelin@xtf.kpi.ua
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
O. Fesenko, L. Yatsenko (eds.), Nanochemistry, Biotechnology, Nanomaterials,
and Their Applications, Springer Proceedings in Physics 214,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92567-7_14
233