A Family Of Tin Oxide-Based Sensors With Improved Selectivity To Methane

The enhancement of the low-temperature (T = 310-degrees-C) sensing behaviour to methane of tin oxide-based gas sensors, resulting from different surface activators, has been systematically studied using the resistive sensor configuration. Pt, CeO2, La2O3 and mixtures of them are employed as activators in view of their properties as a combustion catalyst (Pt) and an atomic oxygen-transfer system (CeO2). The experimental results of this work show that mixtures of CeO2 and Pt present the best catalytic properties with respect to methane detection.