Va. Chaudhary et al., Hydrocarbon sensing mechanism of surface ruthenated tin oxide: An in situ IR, ESR, and adsorption kinetics study, J PHYS CH B, 105(13), 2001, pp. 2565-2571
In this study we explain the conductivity changes involved in the sensing m
echanism of surface ruthenated tin oxide toward butane. The adsorption free
energy is found to be higher for surface ruthenated tin oxide (DeltaG = -6
4.85 kJ/mol) as compared to pure tin oxide (DeltaG = -50.2 kJ/mol) implying
that the gas adsorbs faster on the ruthenated sample. The ESR studies indi
cate that butane preferentially adsorbs on the Ru sites, while the IR studi
es explain the nature of the adsorbed species. A scheme based on these stud
ies is proposed, where surface acetate species is formed on the surface rut
henated tin oxide upon adsorption of butane at 300 degreesC, while the elec
tronic conduction in these sensors is attributed to the formation of surfac
e states.