IMPROVEMENT OF COPPER OXIDE-TIN OXIDE SENSOR FOR DILUTE HYDROGEN-SULFIDE

The influence of the loading and dispersion of CuO on the H2S-sensing properties of CuO-SnO2 sensors has been investigated. The response rat es to H2S depend on various factors such as CuO loading, specific surf ace area (or size) of SnO2 grains, method of loading the SnO2 grains w ith CuO and the operating temperature. For the CuO-SnO2 sensor prepare d by a chemical fixation method, the response rates to dilute H2S (1-1 0 ppm) increased with decreasing CuO loading, while the sensitivity to H2S decreased monotonically with decreasing amount of CuO dispersed p er unit surface area of SnO2. By optimizing these factors, it was poss ible to obtain a CuO-SnO2 sensor which responded to H2S above 1 ppm at 160-degrees-C with sufficient sensitivity and fairly good response ki netics.