A highly sensitive and fast responsive semiconductor metal oxide detector based on In2O3 nanoparticle film for portable gas chromatograph

A highly sensitive and fast responsive semiconductor metal oxide detector based on In 2 O 3 nanoparticle film was developed and evaluated. The mechanical structure of the detector was properly designed to obtain a small chamber volume in order to well fit to a commercial gas chromatographic capillary column. The detector was constructed by coating In 2 O 3 nanoparticle film onto a small ceramic plate. Results indicate that the proposed semiconductor metal oxide detector in this study shows a fast response (several seconds) and a high sensitivity. Moreover, the detector can be operated at ambient condition, which largely simplifies the design of portable gas chromatograph. The fabricated detector was also used to detect gas mixtures with a detection limit down to several ppb. It is concluded that the semiconductor metal oxide detector based on nanostructured materials possesses great potential for constructing portable gas chromatograph.