Comparative study of chromium oxide nanorods and nanoparticles as ethanol sensors

A comparative study of sensing response of chromium oxide nanoparticles and nanorods to ethanol vapours has been reported in this paper. Chromium oxide powder has been synthesized as nanoparticles and nanorods by following a wet chemical route and altering the synthesis parameters. Synthesized chromium oxide powder was characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESeM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) techniques. Chromium oxide samples were deposited as thick films on alumina substrate to act as gas sensors and their comparative response to ethanol vapour was investigated at different temperatures and concentrations. The investigations revealed that sensing response of Cr ₂ O ₃ nanoparticles is exceptionally higher than that of Cr ₂ O ₃ nanorods.