The effect of ZrO2 addition on the microstructure, morphology and pressure sensing behaviour of Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O3 ceramics was studied in five different compositions of ZrO2, namely x = 0.48, 0.50, 0.52, 0.54 and 0.56. The samples were prepared through the solid-state reaction method using high purity metal oxides powders. In order to control the PbO losses due to high temperature sintering, a novel approach were explored whereby the samples were sintered in Al2O3 environment. Structural investigation using X-ray diffraction (XRD) method revealed that all samples exhibited a tetragonal crystal structure. However the c/a lattice parameters ratios exhibited a decreasing trend as the ZrO2 content was increased, indicating that PZT crystals gradually evolved towards pseudocubic structure. SEM micrographs showed different morphology of each composition with the grain size varies in the range of 1.5 μm to 3.15 μm. The performance of pressure sensing behaviour showed that sample with composition x = 0.52 exhibited the best piezoelectric properties with high sensitivity. However, all samples failed to show good stability and repeatability due to slow recovery after severe lattice strain.
The influence of PANI additions on methanol sensing properties of ZnO thin films at room temperature had been investigated. Commercial polyaniline powder (PANI) was mixed into 3 mL ZnO solution in five different weight percentages namely 1.25, 2.50, 3.75, 5.00 and 6.25% to obtain ZnO/PANI composite solutions. These solutions were spin coated onto glass substrate to form thin films. Microstructural studies by FESEM indicated that ZnO/PANI films showed porous structures with nanosize grains. The thickness of the film increased from 55 to 256 nm, proportionate to increment of PANI. The presence of 2 adsorption peaks at ~310 nm and ~610 nm in UV-Vis spectrum proved that addition of PANI has modified the adsorption peak of ZnO film. Methanol vapour detection showed that addition of PANI into ZnO dramatically improved the sensing properties of the sensor. The sensors also exhibited good repeatability and reversibility. Sensor with the amount of PANI of 3.75 wt% exhibited the highest sensitivity with response and recovery time was about 10 and 80 s, respectively. The possible sensing mechanism of the sensor was also discussed in this article.
The aim of this project was to investigate the effect of ZnO addition on the structural properties of ZnO-PANi/carbon black thin films. The sol gel method was employed for the preparation of ZnO sol. The sol was dried for 24 h at 100°C and then annealed at 600°C for 5 h. XRD characterization of the ZnO powder showed the formation of wurtzite type ZnO
crystals. The ZnO powder were mixed into PANi/carbon black solution which was dissolved into M-Pyrol, N-Methyl-2-Pyrrolidinone (NMP) to produce a composite solution of ZnO-PANi/carbon black. The weight ratio of ZnO were 4 wt%, 6 wt% and 8 wt%. The composite solutions were deposited onto glass substrates using a spin-coating technique to fabricate
ZnO-PANi/carbon black thin films. AFM characterization showed the decreasing of average roughness from 7.98 nm to 2.23 nm with the increment of ZnO addition in PANi/carbon black films. The thickness of the films also decreased from 59.5 nm to 28.3 nm. FESEM image revealed that ZnO-PANi/carbon black thin films have changed into agglomerated
surface morphology resulting in the increment of porosity of the films.