Design of Ceramic Materials for Chemical Sensors with Novel Properties

Recently, the search for novel functions has received increasing attention in the field of materials. Outstanding possibilities for innovative applications are given by electroceramics. One of the fields which may be improved by a different use of functional ceramics is that of chemical sensors. In fact, the materials conventionally used in this field show problems still to be solved, such as insufficient gas selectivity, inability to detect very low gas concentrations, and changes in sensing properties caused by surface contamination. One possible solution to these problems is the design of materials with novel detection mechanisms. The design of innovative properties may be achieved by integration or hybridization of materials with different properties. In this paper, examples of multiphase materials for humidity and gas sensors are reported, i.e., La₂CuO₄/ZnO p‐n heterocontacts, Au/ZnO Schottky barriers, and sol‐gel processed thin films of TiO₂ with 10 at. % of K, based, respectively, on the interaction of p‐type/n‐type semiconductors, metal/ceramic, and conductor/insulator.