Abstract: An MWCNT-doped (multi-walled carbon nanotube) SnO2 thin film NO2 gas sensor, prepared by radio frequency reactive magnetron sputtering, showed a high sensitivity to ultra-low concentrations of NO2 in the parts per billion range. X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characterizations indicated that the MWCNTs were affected by the morphology of the SnO2 thin film and the particle size. The properties of the MWCNT-doped SnO2 sensor, such as sensitivity, selectivity, and response-recovery time, were investigated. Experimental results revealed that the MWCNT-doped SnO2 thin film sensor response to NO2 gas depended on the operating temperature, NO2 gas concentration, thermal treatment conditions, film thickness, and so on. The mechanism of the gas-sensing property of the MWCNT-doped SnO2 thin film sensor was investigated and showed that the improved gas-sensing performance should be attributed to the effects between MWCNTs (p-type) and SnO2 (n-type) semiconductors.

Key words: SnO2,  multi-walled carbon nanotube,  RF reactive magnetron sputtering,  NO2 sensor