Speaker: Professor John Bell, Head of School of CPME
Time：10:00 a.m.,July 10,2013.
Location：A718,SINANO
Abstract:
Thin film semiconductor gas sensors typically operate at temperatures above 400°C, but lower temperature operation is highly desirable, especially for remote area field sensing as this reduces significantly power consumption. Their researchers have investigated a range of sensor materials based on both pure and doped tungsten oxide (mainly focussing on Fe-doping), deposited using both thermal evaporation and electron-beam evaporation, and using a variety of post-deposition annealing. The films show good sensitivity at operating temperatures as low as 150°C for detection of NO2. There is a definite relationship between the sensitivity and the crystallinity and nanostructure obtained through the deposition and heat treatment processes, as well as variations in the conductivity caused both by doping and heat treatment. The ultimate goal of this work is to control the sensing properties, including selectivity to specific gases through the engineering of the electronic properties and the nanostructure of the films.
In addition, the research strengths and excellent research environment in QUT especially in School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering will be also introduced.
Biography of the Speaker:
Professor Bell has worked for nearly 25 years on thin film materials, with research on materials for energy efficiency in buildings, solar cells, sensors and hard coatings. He is Head of School of Chemistry, Physics and Mechanical Engineering at Queensland University. He currently holds a Queensland Government Smart Futures Fellowship on the topic “Queensland’s Solar Future”, has published over 200 refereed papers, and secured over $18 million in research funding since 1990. He has worked on dye-sensitized solar cells focussing on materials issues, modeling of the charge transport and extraction of power form DSC and other PV systems. He has also worked on a range of energy system modeling projects, including reducing electricity demand using advanced glazings and cool roof coating materials. John is a Director of the Australian Nanotechnology Alliance.
