THERMAL DIFFUSIVITY STUDIES OF ZnO-CuO AT HIGH TEMPERATURES

An n-type semiconducting oxide such as Zinc Oxide (ZnO) has been exploited for their well-known gas sensing properties. Previous studies on these applications have mainly focused on electrical properties. Only limited reports were available on thermophysical properties of ZnO-based ceramics gas sensor. Therefore in this work, we report on the thermal diffusivity of Zinc Oxide-Copper Oxide (ZnO-CuO) ceramic composites by solid-state method using a laser flash technique. Thermal diffusivity of samples was measured at temperatures between 27 degrees C to 400 degrees C. The role of CuO was observed to enhance the thermal diffusivity of ZnO system with respect to the temperatures. ZnO-CuO samples played a significant role in improvement of thermal diffusivity value at temperature of 200 degrees C and above. Subsequently, sample of higher thermal diffusivity will exhibit lower initialization time for gas sensor to activate. Hence, the enhanced thermal diffusivity suggested that ZnO-CuO composite samples hold a promising possibility in gas sensor application.