Nickel-based thick film ethanol sensor

Thick films ethanol sensors were prepared. The composition of the electrode was measured qualitatively to consist of Ni, O, Al, Mg and Pb. Among these composing elements, it was found that only the nickel could sense the ethanol. Both the infrared (IR) spectrum and cyclic voltammetry (CV) tests were employed to investigate its derivatives in the sensing reaction. It was found that the derivatives presented as adsorbed enol group and beta-ketoaldehyde as enols. Besides, both the redox between Ni(II) and Ni(III), and solid-state electrochemical reactions in the electrode were found to occur in this system simultaneously. A linear dependence of response current vs. ethanol concentration with a detection limit of 37 ppm was obtained and the response time was estimated to be 140 seconds in this sensing system.