Abstract
Gas sensing and monitoring are important issues for both industrial safety and protection of the environment and human beings. Dihydrogen, is increasingly used as fuel and energy carrier but it is extremely flammable and explosive in a wide range between 4 and 75% in air.Similarly, ammonia is widely used in industry as a cooling gas or as a reagent for the chemical production of other compounds.This gas presents risks to the environment and to living beings and can form explosive mixtures with air within 15 to 28% by volume.Gas sensors, indicating the presence and /or quantification of these gases, are very important.In continuation of our work on resistive sensors based on discontinuous assembly of nano-objects, the aim of this thesis was to prepare resistive sensors for the detection of H2 and NH3.These sensors are based on 2D assemblies of complex compositions of nanoparticles. Three types of core-shell nanoparticles were synthesized: Au@ZnO, Au@SnO2 and Au@Ag. Different physicochemical techniques (UV-Visible / TEM / DRX etc.) were used to characterize the particles. The next step was to assemble them in compact monolayers. The films were obtained by Langmuir-Blodgett assembling technique. Then, they were transferred to the surface of a glass slide supporting interdigitated electrodes. Sensing performances of the as-fabricated resistive sensor were evaluated.Sensors based on Au@ZnO and Au@SnO2 nanoparticles were tested towards H2, while Au@Ag based sensors were tested under NH3.The sensors showed attractive performances in H2 and NH3 detection within wide concentration ranges. Another important contribution of this work is the understanding of detection mechanisms. Various analytical techniques such as TPD (Temperature Programmed Desorption) and TPR (temperature programmed reduction) were used for the discussion of the mechanisms involved.