A highly stable optical humidity sensor

We report a highly stable humidity sensor based on nanocomposite film obtained by depositing Au nanoparticles on the surface of 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) capped CdTe quantum dots (QDs) and then modifying NaOH (CdTe@Au/NaOH). The CdTe@Au/NaOH film will form compound salts that can be dissolved or crystallized with humidity changes, resulting in a significant absorption variation of green light, which is very benefit for water vapor detection. In this study, we systematically investigated the influence on the performance of humidity sensing by varying the thickness of Au layer as well as the concentration of NaOH. Our results show that the quickest response-recovery time ((similar to)less than 30 s) was found in the sensing film with the Au layer thickness of 20 nm and NaOH concentration of 1M, which can be ascribed to the combined effects of the better morphology and the yield of compound salts. The repeatable response and recovery measurements demonstrate that the designed sensors exhibit an ultralow humidity detection level with fast response-recovery time, high stability and reproducibility at room temperature. The simplicity, low fabrication cost, and wide working range of the humidity sensor will pave the way for its application in environments and gas detection.