Facile h-MoO₃ synthesis for NH₃ gas sensing application at moderate operating temperature

One dimensional (1D) transition metal oxide nano-structured materials have high possibilities in the field of sensor applications. In the current work, we have investigated gas sensing response of the less explored hexagonal-Molybdenum Oxide (h-MoO₃) for ammonia (NH₃) gas. We have synthesized h-MoO₃ nano-rods by facile chemical bath technique (CBT). To fabricate sensors, thin films were deposited on glass substrates using spin coating technique. Change in resistance of the film on NH₃ exposure was recorded with time. The gas sensing response was measured at different concentration levels of NH₃ ranging from 5 ppm to 100 ppm at 200 °C. We observed comparatively high sensing percentage for low to high concentration of NH₃ gas at moderate operating temperature. h-MoO₃ nano-structured rods based ammonia sensors lend a promising prospective in industrial applications like fertilizer, refrigeration industries etc.