Ultraviolet Light-Assisted Copper Oxide Nanowires Hydrogen Gas Sensor

We fabricated copper oxide nanowires (CuO NWs) ultraviolet (UV) light-assisted hydrogen gas sensor. The fabricated sensor shows promising sensor response behavior towards 100 ppm of H-2 at room temperature and elevated temperature at 100 degrees C when exposed to UV light (3.0 mW/cm(2)). One hundred-cycle device stability test has been performed, and it is found that for sample elevated at 100 degrees C, the UV-activated sample achieved stability in the first cycle as compared to the sample without UV irradiation which needed about 10 cycles to achieve stability at the initial stage, whereas the sample tested at room temperature was able to stabilize with the aid of UV irradiation. This indicates that with the aid of UV light, after some "warming up" time, it is possible for the conventional CuO NW sensor which normally work at elevated temperature to function at room temperature because UV source is speculated to play a dominant role to increase the interaction of the surface of CuO NWs and hydrogen gas molecules absorbed after the light exposure.