Morphology and Electrical Properties of Pristine and Composite Rice Husk Ash Nano/Micro Particles Thick Films for Gas Sensing Applications

In this work, we investigate the morphology and electrical properties of thick film made from Rice husk ash (RHA) and RHA mixed with biochar of an invasive plant from Northern Nigeria called Prosopis Africana char (PAC). The RHA and the RHA+PAC composite were processed into microns and nanoparticles, linseed oil was incorporated as a vehicle binder for the thick film formulation. The developed thick films were characterized to study their morphology and evaluate their electrical properties. FESEM, EDX characterizations analysis were carried out on the films and a two-point probe meter and Keithley source meter were used to measure the resistance, sheet resistance, and I-V characteristics respectively. Finally, we were able to calculate the resistivity and conductivity of each thick film developed. Thick films made from nanoparticles shoes relatively low conductivity compared to its microns’ counterparts.