Humidity sensors are widely used in domestic and industrial environments. T
he authors have investigated 0.5ZrO(2)-0.5TiO(2) ceramic for its humidity s
ensing electrical properties at room temperature. The bulk humidity sensors
were prepared by the conventional ceramic method. Salt doping with Li+ ion
s is found to increase the sensitivity by an order of two, and also improve
s the linearity. X-ray and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigation
s have established that ZrTiO4 phase grows at a sintering temperature of 12
00 degrees C. The abnormal behaviour in humidity sensing characteristics fo
r samples sintered at 1150 degrees C may be due to micropores in between th
e grains. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.