Effects of High-Humidity Aging on Platinum, Palladium, and Gold Loaded Tin Oxide—Volatile Organic Compound Sensors.docVIP

Sensors 2010, 10, 6513-6521; doi:10.3390/s100706513 OPEN ACCESS sensors ISSN 1424-8220 /journal/sensors Article Effects of High-Humidity Aging on Platinum, Palladium, and Gold Loaded Tin Oxide—Volatile Organic Compound Sensors Toshio Itoh 1,*, Ichiro Matsubara 1, Masahiro Kadosaki 2,Yuichi Sakai 2, Woosuck Shin 1, Noriya Izu 1 and Maiko Nishibori 1 1 National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Shimo-Shidami, Moriyama-ku, Nagoya 463-8560, Japan; E-Mails: matsubara-i@aist.go.jp (I.M.); w.shin@aist.go.jp (W.S.); n-izu@aist.go.jp (N.I.); m-nishibori@aist.go.jp (M.N.) 2 Toyama Industrial Technology Center, 383 Takada, Toyama 930-0866, Japan; E-Mails: kado@itc.pref.toyama.jp (M.K.); sakai@itc.pref.toyama.jp (Y.S.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: itoh-toshio@aist.go.jp; Tel.: +81-52-736-7089; Fax: +81-52-736-7244. Received: 29 May 2010; in revised form: 15 June 2010 / Accepted: 25 June 2010 / Published: 6 July 2010 Abstract: This study is an investigation of high-humidity aging effects on the total volatile organic compound (T–VOC) gas-sensing properties of platinum, palladium, and gold-loaded tin oxide (Pt,Pd,Au/SnO2) thick films. The sensor responses of the high-humidity aged Pt,Pd,Au/SnO2, a non-aged Pt,Pd,Au/SnO2, and a high-humidity aged Pt/SnO2 to T–VOC test gas have been measured. The high-humidity aging is an effective treatment for resistance to humidity change for the Pt,Pd,Au/SnO2 but not effective for the Pt/SnO2. The mechanism of the high-humidity aging effects is discussed based on the change of surface state of the SnO2 particles. Keywords: gas sensor; tin oxide; noble metal loaded tin oxide; T–VOC test gas; high-humidity aging 1. Introduction Sick building syndrome is caused by harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs), even where the concentration of VOCs is low, i.e., ppb level. Formaldehyde, one of the