Refractory Metal Doped Gallium Oxide Sensors for Extreme Environmental Applications

提案#1509653摘要标题：用于极端环境应用的难熔金属掺杂氧化镓传感器摘要非技术性：目前，在用于能量收集的燃烧过程的研究和开发中存在巨大的兴趣。最近的分析表明，通过改进发电厂的燃煤/燃烧过程，每年可节省高达4.09亿美元的成本。 然而，为了实现这种节省和效率提高，需要能够承受极端环境（例如高温、高腐蚀性气氛和高压）的传感器和控制装置。除了降低成本的经济效益外，控制燃烧还可以消除严重影响我们的环境，健康和能源的污染物排放。发电系统中燃烧过程的优化可以通过对氧气的感测、监测和控制来实现，氧气是过程完整性的量度，并且可以导致提高的效率和减少的温室气体排放。然而，尽管事实上存在对用于发电系统和汽车中的燃烧监测和控制的先进传感器的非常高的需求，但是现有的氧感测技术遭受差的响应和恢复时间以及长期稳定性。技术支持：该项目旨在研究高温氧传感器在腐蚀性气氛中可在700摄氏度以上的温度下工作，以应用于发电系统。 该研究项目的总体目标是研究基于纳米结构氧化镓（Ga 2 O3）的氧传感器，我们建议深入探索难熔金属（RM）掺杂氧化镓的作用，以提高此类传感器的灵敏度、选择性、稳定性（3S标准）和可靠性，同时保持设备成本经济。 最终目标是设计出在极端环境下具有快速响应、标准、可靠性和鲁棒性的联合收割机氧传感器。具体来说，我们将专注于设计具有受控掺杂剂的纳米结构Ga 2 O3。 该项目的工作将主要针对制造纳米结构的W-Ga 2 O3，Mo-Ga 2 O3和W-Mo-Ga 2 O3传感器，并获得掺杂剂引起的结构-成分-电子性质变化对氧传感器性能的基本理解。重点是了解RM纳入Ga 2 O 3传感器的电子结构的变化，作为与氧相互作用的结果。显而易见的目标是研究W-Ga 2 O3，Mo-Ga 2 O3和W-Mo-Ga 2 O3传感器的化学反应性，并量化电子结构的变化，从而得出结构-性质-性能相关性。拟议的研究将提供一个更好的理解的纳米现象，吸附/解吸过程在纳米级，和尺寸依赖的反应性，以优化条件，以提高3S标准的氧传感器除了响应时间。纳米结构的W-Ga 2 O3，Mo-Ga 2 O3和W-Mo-Ga 2 O3传感器的结果有望提供令人兴奋的机会，设计和制造的氧传感器相比，现有的上级性能。因此，该项目的成功将有可能改变传感器技术，并将对德克萨斯大学埃尔帕索分校（UTEP）的研究人员和学生产生重大影响。

Proposal # 1509653Abstract Title: Refractory metal doped gallium oxide sensors for extreme environment applicationsAbstractNontechnical: Currently, an enormous amount of interest exists in the research and development of combustion processes for energy harvesting. Recent analysis shows that by improving coal-based firing/combustion processes in power plants, a cost saving of up to $409 million a year can be achieved. However, in order for this savings and efficiency improvements to occur, sensors and controls capable of withstanding extreme environments such as high temperatures, highly corrosive atmospheres, and high pressures are in critical demand. Besides the economic benefits of reduced costs, controlled combustion can also eliminate the pollutant emissions that are critically impacting our environment, health and energy resources. Optimization of the combustion processes in power generation systems can be achieved by sensing, monitoring and control of oxygen, which is a measure of the completeness of the process and can lead to enhanced efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. However, despite the fact that there exists a very high demand for advanced sensors for combustion monitoring and control in power generation systems and automobiles, the existing oxygen sensing technologies suffer from poor response and recovery times as well as long-term stability. Technical: The proposed project is intended to investigate the high-temperature oxygen sensors operational to temperatures greater than 700 degrees Celsius in a corrosive atmosphere for application in power generation systems. The overall objective of the research project is to investigate nanostructured gallium oxide (Ga2O3) based sensors for oxygen sensing, where we propose to conduct in-depth exploration of the role of refractory metals (RM) for doping the gallium oxide to enhance the sensitivity, selectivity, stability (3S) criteria) and reliability of such sensors while at the same time keeping device cost economical. The ultimate objective is to design oxygen sensors that combine rapid response, criteria, reliability, and robustness at extreme environments. Specifically, we will focus on engineering the nanostructured Ga2O3 with controlled dopants. The project work will be mainly directed towards fabricating the nanostructured W-Ga2O3, Mo-Ga2O3 and W-Mo-Ga2O3 sensors and gaining a fundamental understanding of dopant-induced structure-composition-electronic property changes on the oxygen sensor performance. The emphasis is to understand changes in the electronic structure of RM-incorporated Ga2O3 sensor as a result of interaction with oxygen. The obvious goal is to study the chemical reactivity of W-Ga2O3, Mo-Ga2O3 and W-Mo-Ga2O3 sensors and quantify the changes in electronic structure so as to derive a structure-property-performance correlation. The proposed study will provide a better understanding of the nanoscale phenomena, adsorption/desorption processes at nanoscale, and size-dependent reactivity to optimize the conditions to enhance the 3S criteria of the oxygen sensors in addition to response time. The results on the nanostructured W-Ga2O3, Mo-Ga2O3 and W-Mo-Ga2O3 sensors are expected to offer exciting opportunities to design and fabricate oxygen sensors with superior performance compared to the existing ones. The project success will, thus, potentially transform the sensor technology and will have a substantial impact on the investigators and students at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), a Hispanic serving minority institution.