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Structural, Optical, and Sensing Properties of Nb-Doped ITO Thin Films Deposited by the Sol–Gel Method

The aim of the present study was the development of Nb-doped ITO thin films for carbon monoxide (CO) sensing applications. The detection of CO is imperious because of its high toxicity, with long-term exposure having a negative impact on human health. Using a feasible sol–gel method, the doped ITO t...

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Autores principales: Nicolescu, Madalina, Mitrea, Daiana, Hornoiu, Cristian, Preda, Silviu, Stroescu, Hermine, Anastasescu, Mihai, Calderon-Moreno, Jose Maria, Predoana, Luminita, Teodorescu, Valentin Serban, Maraloiu, Valentin-Adrian, Zaharescu, Maria, Gartner, Mariuca
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9689281/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36354625
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/gels8110717
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author Nicolescu, Madalina
Mitrea, Daiana
Hornoiu, Cristian
Preda, Silviu
Stroescu, Hermine
Anastasescu, Mihai
Calderon-Moreno, Jose Maria
Predoana, Luminita
Teodorescu, Valentin Serban
Maraloiu, Valentin-Adrian
Zaharescu, Maria
Gartner, Mariuca
author_facet Nicolescu, Madalina
Mitrea, Daiana
Hornoiu, Cristian
Preda, Silviu
Stroescu, Hermine
Anastasescu, Mihai
Calderon-Moreno, Jose Maria
Predoana, Luminita
Teodorescu, Valentin Serban
Maraloiu, Valentin-Adrian
Zaharescu, Maria
Gartner, Mariuca
author_sort Nicolescu, Madalina
collection PubMed
description The aim of the present study was the development of Nb-doped ITO thin films for carbon monoxide (CO) sensing applications. The detection of CO is imperious because of its high toxicity, with long-term exposure having a negative impact on human health. Using a feasible sol–gel method, the doped ITO thin films were prepared at room temperature and deposited onto various substrates (Si, SiO(2)/glass, and glass). The structural, morphological, and optical characterization was performed by the following techniques: X-ray diffractometry (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and UV/Vis/NIR spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The analysis revealed a crystalline structure and a low surface roughness of the doped ITO-based thin films. XTEM analysis (cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy) showed that the film has crystallites of the order of 5–10 nm and relatively large pores (around 3–5 nm in diameter). A transmittance value of 80% in the visible region and an optical band-gap energy of around 3.7 eV were found for dip-coated ITO/Nb films on SiO(2)/glass and glass supports. The EDX measurements proved the presence of Nb in the ITO film in a molar ratio of 3.7%, close to the intended one (4%). Gas testing measurements were carried out on the ITO undoped and doped thin films deposited on glass substrate. The presence of Nb in the ITO matrix increases the electrical signal and the sensitivity to CO detection, leading to the highest response for 2000 ppm CO concentration at working temperature of 300 °C.
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spelling pubmed-96892812022-11-25 Structural, Optical, and Sensing Properties of Nb-Doped ITO Thin Films Deposited by the Sol–Gel Method Nicolescu, Madalina Mitrea, Daiana Hornoiu, Cristian Preda, Silviu Stroescu, Hermine Anastasescu, Mihai Calderon-Moreno, Jose Maria Predoana, Luminita Teodorescu, Valentin Serban Maraloiu, Valentin-Adrian Zaharescu, Maria Gartner, Mariuca Gels Article The aim of the present study was the development of Nb-doped ITO thin films for carbon monoxide (CO) sensing applications. The detection of CO is imperious because of its high toxicity, with long-term exposure having a negative impact on human health. Using a feasible sol–gel method, the doped ITO thin films were prepared at room temperature and deposited onto various substrates (Si, SiO(2)/glass, and glass). The structural, morphological, and optical characterization was performed by the following techniques: X-ray diffractometry (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and UV/Vis/NIR spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The analysis revealed a crystalline structure and a low surface roughness of the doped ITO-based thin films. XTEM analysis (cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy) showed that the film has crystallites of the order of 5–10 nm and relatively large pores (around 3–5 nm in diameter). A transmittance value of 80% in the visible region and an optical band-gap energy of around 3.7 eV were found for dip-coated ITO/Nb films on SiO(2)/glass and glass supports. The EDX measurements proved the presence of Nb in the ITO film in a molar ratio of 3.7%, close to the intended one (4%). Gas testing measurements were carried out on the ITO undoped and doped thin films deposited on glass substrate. The presence of Nb in the ITO matrix increases the electrical signal and the sensitivity to CO detection, leading to the highest response for 2000 ppm CO concentration at working temperature of 300 °C. MDPI 2022-11-07 /pmc/articles/PMC9689281/ /pubmed/36354625 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/gels8110717 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Nicolescu, Madalina
Mitrea, Daiana
Hornoiu, Cristian
Preda, Silviu
Stroescu, Hermine
Anastasescu, Mihai
Calderon-Moreno, Jose Maria
Predoana, Luminita
Teodorescu, Valentin Serban
Maraloiu, Valentin-Adrian
Zaharescu, Maria
Gartner, Mariuca
Structural, Optical, and Sensing Properties of Nb-Doped ITO Thin Films Deposited by the Sol–Gel Method
title Structural, Optical, and Sensing Properties of Nb-Doped ITO Thin Films Deposited by the Sol–Gel Method
title_full Structural, Optical, and Sensing Properties of Nb-Doped ITO Thin Films Deposited by the Sol–Gel Method
title_fullStr Structural, Optical, and Sensing Properties of Nb-Doped ITO Thin Films Deposited by the Sol–Gel Method
title_full_unstemmed Structural, Optical, and Sensing Properties of Nb-Doped ITO Thin Films Deposited by the Sol–Gel Method
title_short Structural, Optical, and Sensing Properties of Nb-Doped ITO Thin Films Deposited by the Sol–Gel Method
title_sort structural, optical, and sensing properties of nb-doped ito thin films deposited by the sol–gel method
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9689281/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36354625
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/gels8110717
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