Sol-gel nanosized semiconducting titania-based powders for thick-film gas sensors

Pure, 5 at%, and 10 at% Ta- or Nb-doped TiO2 nanosized powders were prepared by the sol-gel method. The powders heated to 400°C have the crystalline anatase structure. While the pure TiO2 powder heated to 850°C has the rutile structure, the addition of Ta and Nb inhibited the anatase-to-rutile phase transformation at this temperature. Ta was soluble in the titania lattice up to the concentration of 10 at%, while the solubility of Nb was 5 at%. Thick films were fabricated with these powders by screen printing technology and then fired at 650°C and 850°C for 1 h. SEM observations showed that the anatase-to-rutile phase transformation induces a grain growth of about one order of magnitude for pure TiO2. The addition of Ta and Nb is effective to keep the TiO2 grain size at the nanometric level even at 850°C. Conductance measurements showed that a good gas response is observed only for the nanostructured titania-based films. The CO response of these materials is only slightly affected by humidity.