A Study on the Gas/Humidity Sensitivity of the High-Frequency SAW CO Gas Sensor Based on Noble-Metal-Modified Metal Oxide Film

Abstract

In order to improve the response characteristics of the surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor to trace gases, a SAW CO gas sensor based on a Pd–Pt/SnO2/Al2O3 film with a high-frequency response performance is proposed in this paper. The gas sensitivity and humidity sensitivity of trace CO gas are tested and analyzed under normal temperatures and pressures. The research results show that, compared with the frequency response of the Pd–Pt/SnO2 film, the CO gas sensor based on a Pd–Pt/SnO2/Al2O3 film has a higher frequency response performance, and the sensor has high-frequency response characteristics to CO gas with a concentration in the range of 10–100 ppm. The average response recovery time of 90% ranges from 33.4 s to 37.2 s, respectively. When the CO gas with a concentration of 30 ppm is tested repeatedly, its frequency fluctuation is less than 5%, indicating that the sensor has good stability. In the range of relative humidity (RH) from 25% to 75%, it also has high-frequency response characteristics for CO gas with a 20 ppm concentration.

Keywords

• SAW
• Pd–Pt/SnO₂/Al₂O₃ thin film
• CO gas
• gas sensitivity
• humidity sensitivity