%0 Journal Article
%A Gutiérrez Monreal, Javier
%A Arés Escolar, Luis
%A Robla Villalba, José Ignacio
%A Horrillo Guemes, María Carmen
%A Sayago Olmo, Isabel
%A Agapito Serrano, Juan Andrés
%T Properties of polycrystalline gas sensors based on d.c. and a.c. electrical measurements
%D 1992
%@ 0925-4005
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/60074
%X Electrical properties of polycrystalline gas sensors are analyzed by d.c. and a.c. measurements. d.c. electrical conductivity values compared with those obtained by admittance spectroscopy methods help to obtain a detailed 'on line' analysis of conductivity-modulated gas sensors. The electrical behaviour of grain boundaries is obtained and a new design of sensors can be achieved by enhancing the activity of surface states in the detecting operation. A Schottky barrier model is used to explain the grain boundary action under the presence of surrounding gases. The height of this barrier is a function of gas concentration due to the trapping of excess charge generated by gas adsorption at the interface. A comparison between this dependence, and a plot of the real and imaginary components of the admittance versus frequency at different gas concentrations, provides information on the different parameters that play a role in the conduction mechanisms. These methods have been applied to the design of a CO sensor based on tin oxide films for domestic purposes, the characteristics of which are presented.
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