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Room temperature oxygen sensors
NASA Ames has developed very small-sized oxygen sensors made of a graphene and titanium dioxide (TiO<sub>2</sub>) hybrid material. With ultraviolet (UV) illumination, these sensors are capable of detecting oxygen (O<sub>2</sub>) gas at room temperature and at ambient pressure. The sensors are able to detect oxygen at concentrations ranging from about 0.2% to about 10% by volume under 365nm UV light, and at concentrations ranging from 0.4% to 20% by volume under short wave 254nm UV light. These sensors have fast response and recovery times and can also be used to detect ozone.
This unique room temperature O<sub>2</sub> sensor provides significant advantages in O<sub>2</sub> sensing applications, especially those applications where high operating temperature requirements cannot be met, or would result in inefficient manufacturing processes. Since graphene is not intrinsically responsive to O<sub>2</sub>, and TiO<sub>2</sub> is not responsive to oxygen at room temperature, the materials are first synthesized as a hybrid material. The synthesized graphene- TiO<sub>2</sub> hybrid material is then ultrasonicated and then drop-casted onto a series of Interdigitated Electrodes (IDE) to form the sensors.
Ultrasonication ensures effective charge transfer at the graphene- TiO<sub>2</sub> interphase. The graphene and the titanium dioxide may be present in the composite material in different ratios to ensure optimal oxygen detection. It is the combination of graphene with TiO2 that yields a semiconducting material capable of O<sub>2</sub> sensing at room-temperature operation.