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World Journal of Chemical Education. 2023, 11(3), 54-59
DOI: 10.12691/WJCE-11-3-6
Special Issue

From Titanium Foil to Gas Sensor: Nanoporous Anodic Titania as a Functional Material

Edwin Bogdan1, Christoph Weidmann1 and Thomas Waitz1,

1Department of Chemistry Education, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany

Pub. Date: August 22, 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative experiments in chemistry didactics in Germany)
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Cite this paper

Edwin Bogdan, Christoph Weidmann and Thomas Waitz. From Titanium Foil to Gas Sensor: Nanoporous Anodic Titania as a Functional Material. World Journal of Chemical Education. 2023; 11(3):54-59. doi: 10.12691/WJCE-11-3-6

Abstract

We present a gas sensor using nanoporous titanium dioxide which is fabricated by anodic oxidation of a titanium foil. The process is easy to handle, can be carried out at low cost and the sensor response to reducing gases can be measured using a cheap digital multimeter. In contrast to the most gas sensors, no commercially available sensor substrate is required. The band model for semiconductors and a model of ionosorption provides an explanation for the working principle of the gas sensor on particle level. Several experimental approaches for upper-secondary chemistry class are presented.

Keywords

gas sensor, titanium dioxide, band model

Copyright

Creative CommonsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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