TITLE:
Synthesis and Humidity Sensing Investigations of Nanostructured ZnSnO3
AUTHORS:
Rama Singh, Avadhesh Kumar Yadav, Chandkiram Gautam
KEYWORDS:
Zinc Stannate, SEM, XRD, UV-Visible Absorption Spectroscopy, Humidity
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Sensor Technology,
Vol.1 No.4,
December
5,
2011
ABSTRACT: In this paper zinc stannate (ZnSnO3) nanoparticles was synthesized by a chemical precipitation method. The synthesized samples were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy. Sensing material was made as pellet by hydraulic press machine under uniform pressure of 616 MPa. Then the material was annealed at 600。C. Surface morphologies of the samples were analyzed using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for pellet of different weight ratio annealed at 600。C. The XRD pattern indicates that ZnSnO3 has a perovskite phase with an orthorhombic structure having minimum crystallite size 4 nm. Further, humidity sensing investigations of these sensing materials were done. Our result indicate that ZnSnO3 in form of pellet annealed at 600。C for 1:4 weight ratio was most sensitive of humidity in comparison to pure SnO2 under same conditions. Maximum sensitivity of the sample was 3 GΩ/% RH which is better in comparison to pure SnO2. The results were reproducible up to ± 77% after 2 months of observations.