PhD Candidate Advised by Dr. Patricia Morris, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University

Mon, May 14, 2012, 3:30 pm - Mon, May 14, 2012, 4:18 pm

Abstract

Recent advances in nanotechnology have improved chemiresistive gas sensors by increasing the surface area of the metal-oxide sensing film.  This is important for detecting trace levels of hazardous gases.  This talk will focus on research for developing a chemiresistive gas sensor array on miniaturized sensor substrates for detecting methane and carbon monoxide for improving safety in coal mines.  This will be done through the use of gas sensor array technology which allows multiple metal-oxide films operated at different temperature to accurately detect concentrations of each gas in the presence of the other through multivariate calibration.  Miniaturized sensor substrates have benefits including small physical size, portability, and low power consumption.

Metal-oxide nanoparticles (SnO₂, TiO₂, ZnO, NiO) and nano-structures were synthesized using hydrothermal and solvothermal techniques for control of crystallinity, particle size, and morphology of the material.  These materials were deposited on microhotplate substrates via ink-jet printing to form metal-oxide films on the gas sensor devices.  The chemiresistive sensors were tested using a design of experiments at several temperatures, methane concentrations, and carbon monoxide concentrations to determine the gas sensor response at each state of testing.  Conclusions regarding the particle size, microstructure of the metal-oxide film, and optimum temperature for detecting methane and carbon monoxide will be presented.

Bio

Mark received his BS in 2007 and MS in 2009 in Materials Science & Engineering from The Ohio State University.  He is currently working on his Ph.D. at Ohio State advised by Dr. Patricia Morris.  His work is focused on nano-structured metal-oxides deposited via ink-jet printing for gas sensing applications, and this work is funded by the Orton Ceramic Foundation.

He was a diamond award recipient for the Graduate Excellence in Materials Science (GEMS) competition at the 2011 MS&T Conference for scientific achievements and quality of the oral presentation.  He is a member of the Ohio State chapter of Keramos and served as the Ohio State representative on the President’s Council of Student Advisors for the American Ceramic Society (ACerS) in 2011.