Copper (II) oxide thin film for methanol and ethanol sensing

A nanostructured copper (II) oxide film deposited by reactive DC-magnetron sputtering technique, has been studied for static sensor response towards methanol and ethanol by operating temperature and analyte concentration modulations. The optimum operating temperature (Topt) for the sensing of methanol and ethanol is observed to be 350 °C and 400 °C, respectively. The maximum sensitivity observed for 2500 ppm methanol and ethanol is 29% and 15.4% respectively. Another important observation is that the sensitivity time reduces with analyte concentrations, where as recovery time increases. The response time of 2500 ppm methanol and ethanol is 235 s and 247 s correspondingly.