Pure and Sr(II)-added copper aluminate nanocomposites: structural, electrical and alcohol sensing studies

The effect of ethylenediamine addition in the sol-gel method for the preparation of pure and Sr(II)-added nano copper aluminate (CuAl2O4) composites for the enhancement in their structural, electrical, and alcohol sensing properties were investigated. The effect of addition of Sr(II) to pure CuAl2O4 in both the methods were also discussed. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms, temperature dependant conductance measurements and thermoelectric power measurements were used to characterize the composites prepared. Among the composites, 0.8 molar ratio strontium added copper aluminate composite prepared by modified sol-gel method showed the highest sensitivity towards alcohols. The stability, response and recovery of MS-CuSA5 were also discussed. The response and recovery characteristics showed that the order of sensing alcohols by the composites was butanol > isopropanol > ethanol > methanol, which could be explained on the basis of oxidation of alcohols.