MoO3 Coated Quartz Crystal Microbalance as a Room Temperature Ammonia Sensing Platform

Ammonia (NH3), a significant environmental pollutant and a key parameter in various industrial processes, necessitates advanced sensing technologies for precise monitoring and control. A Quartz Crystal Microbalance based sensor with reactively sputtered MoO3 as the sensing layer has been investigated for the sensing of NH3 at room temperature. The sensor displays a high sensitivity of 0.06 Hz/ppm and shows quick response and recovery times of 29 s and 40 s respectively towards 40 ppm of NH3. The developed sensor was also found to be selective and repeatable to NH3. Apart from that it also shows stable response over a period of 30 days with good reproducibility. These findings collectively underscore the developed sensor’s potential for deployment in portable, cost-effective NH3 sensing devices designed to operate efficiently at room temperature. The promising outcomes presented here pave the way for future applications, where the developed sensor holds great promise for addressing the evolving demands of environmental monitoring and industrial control.