Capacitive humidity sensor design based on anodic aluminum oxide

Capacitive humidity sensors based on anodic aluminum oxide (AAO), a material used as a sensing layer for high sensitivity, were investigated. The AAO film has many nanosized pores, giving it a large surface area for absorbing water vapor. Effects of design factors and heating were investigated. A thick porous layer or big pore diameter increases sensitivity because of increase in contact surface area. An electrode of rectangular spiral-shaped type tends to have a slightly higher hysteresis than the interdigitated type, but the rectangular spiral-shaped type is efficient and sensitive if the hysteresis and nonlinearity are reduced by controlling design factors or heating. Although heating reduced the sensitivity, it improved performance parameters such as nonlinearity, hysteresis, response time and temperature dependence. Also, a porous electrode would show a higher sensitivity than a nonporous electrode because of the larger surface area. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.