Crumpled Carbon Nanotube Thin Film Heaters for High Sensitivity Hydrogen Sensing

Abstract

This paper reports the fabrication and characterization of crumpled multi-walled carbon nanotube (CNT) thin film heater and its application towards hydrogen gas sensing. We have fabricated MWCNTs thin film heater by a simple spray coating and thermally shrinking the polystyrene (PS) substrate. Thermal shrinkage results crumpled CNTs with closely packed junctions, leading to a higher heating temperature at a given input voltage. Such efficient heating capabilities of the crumpled CNT heater are favorable for hydrogen gas sensing with good desorption characteristics. Our results show that higher operating temperatures result in better measurement sensitivities. In addition, the heating performance and temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of CNT heaters are analyzed for an accurate temperature control. The suggested crumpled CNT heaters can be applied for low-voltage gas sensing platforms.