Developing thick film Tungsten doped Zinc Oxide nanoparticles´ sensors for selective detection of primary alcohols

Zinc Oxide nanoparticles´ thick film sensors doped with tungsten,has been developed and its response towards alcohol has been measured. The nanoparticles were synthesised by the chemical combustion technique and characterised by XRD, FESEM and EDS. It was established that the nanoparticles exist in a hexagonal system in a primitive lattice with no other impurities. A study on the sensing performance of the sensors hence prepared to the three primary alcohols has been carried out with the help of a new index which we call rate of response (sensitivity/sensing time). The sensors exhibit rate of responses as high as 22%/s with a sensitivity of around 80% with good selectivity and reproducibility.