Morphological and electrical properties of La0.8Ca0.1Pb0.1FeO3 perovskite nanopowder for NH3 and CO gas detection

Nanocrystalline gas sensitive material based on Perovskite type La0.8Ca0.1Pb0.1FeO3(LCPFO) sample has been prepared by the sol-gel method with the citric acid route. The gas sensitivities under different temperatures of the (LCPFO) compound have been investigated toward the two NH3 and CO reducing gases. The synthesized compound has been analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was found that the compound exhibits an orthorhombic symmetry with the Pnma space group. The effect of the experiment environment (under vacuum and air) on the conductance and activation energy E-a of the LCPFO compound has been evaluated. The E-a values have been found to be in the range of 0.43 eV < E-a < 0.53 eV and to be located between 0.42 and 0.62 eV under vacuum and air, respectively. Furthermore, the lowest detectable concentrations (10 and 40 ppm) of NH3 and CO, respectively, have been achieved.