Synthesis of Nanostructured Cuprous Oxide and Its Performance as Humidity and Temperature Sensor

The present paper reports the synthesis of cuprous oxide particles through pathological route by using glucose solution as reducing agent in Benedict qualitative reagent. The synthesized material has been investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction studies. SEM shows uniform distribution of pores. The size of cuprous oxide particles lies in the range 25–123 nm. The pellet of cuprous oxide nanopowder has been subjected to annealing at different temperatures, 200°C, 400°C, and 600°C, and exposed to humidity. Variation in electrical resistance of pellet is almost linear with appreciable slope for 10–95% relative humidity at room temperature. Also each sensing element was exposed to different ambient temperatures and corresponding electrical resistances were recorded. The sensitivity and activation energy of sensor at various temperatures have been calculated.