Encapsulation of Semiconductor Gas Sensors with Gas Barrier Films for USN Application

Sensor nodes in ubiquitous sensor networks require autonomous replacement of deteriorated gas sensors with reserved sensors, which has led us to develop an encapsulation technique to avoid poisoning the reserved sensors and an autonomous activation technique to replace a deteriorated sensor with a reserved sensor. Encapsulations of $In_2O_3$ nanoparticles with poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVOH) or polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) as gas barrier layers are reported. The EVOH or PVDF films are used for an encapsulation of $In_2O_3$ as a sensing material and are effective in blocking $In_2O_3$ from contacting formaldehyde (HCHO) gas. The activation process of $In_2O_3$ by removing the EVOH through heating is effective. However, the thermal decomposition of the PVDF affects the property of the $In_2O_3$ in terms of the gas reactivity. The response of the sensor to HCHO gas after removing the EVOH is 26%, which is not significantly different with the response of 28% in a reference sample that was not treated at all. We believe that the selection of gas barrier materials for the encapsulation and activation of $In_2O_3$ should be considered because of the ill effect the byproduct of thermal decomposition has on the sensing materials and other thermal properties of the barrier materials.