Tunable interconnectivity of mesostructured cobalt oxide materials for sensing applications

A mesostructured cobalt oxide microsensor was fabricated using a template replication method under different hydrothermal treatments, and attempts were made to enhance the response of this gas sensor. To evaluate the sensing performance, the sensing materials were deposited via the dielectrophoresis (DEP) process, on micro-hot-plate platforms with interdigitated electrodes. The resistance changed when the carbon monoxide target gas was injected at the optimum temperature. The mesostructured cobalt oxide material with high hydrothermal treatment revealed the well-ordered domains, whereas with low hydrothermal treatment it did not contain ordered domains. Moreover, the cobalt oxide high hydrothermal material had 1.5 times the response to 70 ppm carbon monoxide as the low hydrothermal treatment sample. The unobstructed interconnectivity promotes gas diffusion and increases the active surface areas.