Gas sensing properties of p-type hollow NiO hemispheres prepared by polymeric colloidal templating method

This work presents a simple and versatile route to produce macroporous p-type metal oxide thin films. Two-dimensional arrays of p-type NiO films with a hollow hemisphere structure were fabricated by colloidal templating and RF-sputtering followed by a subsequent heat treatment. The diameter and shell thickness of the NiO hemisphere were 800 nm and 20 nm, respectively. X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy analysis indicate that the pure NiO phase with grain size of 10 nm was obtained at calcination temperatures that exceeded 450 °C. Close-packed arrays of hollow NiO hemispheres were found to exhibit p-type gas sensing properties against (CO, H₂, C₃H₈, CH₄, NO₂, and C₂H₅OH), leading to significantly enhanced responses to C₂H₅OH (R_gas/R_air = 5.0 at 200 ppm).