High-temperature potentiometric/amperometric NOx sensors combining stabilized zirconia with mixed-metal oxide electrode

Electrochemical sensors using stabilized zirconia and oxide electrodes were tested for detecting NO or NO2 potentiometrically and amperometrically at high temperature. For a mixed-potential-type NOx sensor of two-electrode structure, CdCr2O4 was found to give fairly excellent NOx sensing characteristics among the perovskite-type and spinel-type oxides tested. The CdCr2O4-attached device gave a linear correlation between EMF and the logarithm of NO or NO2 concentration at 500-600 degrees C. The mixed potential sensing mechanism was also verified. In order to improve the sensitivity and selectivity to NO, the above device was modified to three-electrode structure. With a fixed bias voltage being applied between the sensing (oxide) and counter (Pt) electrodes, the voltage between the sensing and reference (Pt) electrodes was measured as a sensing signal. The responses to NO and NO2 were found to be enhanced and suppressed with a positive bias, respectively. The tubular device with two-electrode structure was tested for amperometric detection of NOx. A CdCr2O4-attached tubular device was found to show quick and selective response to NO over NO2 at 500 and 550 degrees C, if the oxide sensing electrode was polarized at + 100 mV versus the reference Pt electrode. The NOx sensing mechanisms of the three-electrode device were proposed and discussed on the basis of the sensing characteristics obtained. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.