Innovative metal oxide nanosystems for gas sensing: From design to application

The present contribution highlights some of the key results recently obtained by our research group in the development of innovative metal oxide nanosystems for gas sensors. In particular, the attention is devoted to the tailored synthesis of columnar CeO2 nanostructures, ZnO nanoplatelets and ZnO-TiO2 nanocomposites. The systems were properly designed and synthesized by means of Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) routes, with special focus on the control of their morphogenesis by tailoring the growth conditions. Compositional, microstructural, morphological and electrical characterization data of the obtained innovative nanomaterials are presented and their peculiarities are highlighted, with special emphasis to the detection of target gases for environmental and food control applications