Effects of Surfactants on the Performance of<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mtext>CeO</mml:mtext></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mtext>2</mml:mtext></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math>Humidity Sensor

NanosizedCeO2powders were synthesized via hydrothermal method with different types of surfactants (polyethylene glycol (PEG), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS)). X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were utilized to characterize the phase structures and morphologies of the products. The sample with CTAB as surfactant (CeO2-C) has the largest specific surface area and the smallest particle size among these three samples. The humidity sensor fabricated byCeO2-C shows higher performance than those usedCeO2-P andCeO2-S. The impedance of theCeO2-C sensor decreases by about five orders of magnitude with relative humidity (RH) changing from 15.7 to 95%. The response and recovery time are 7 and 7 s, respectively. These results indicate that the performance ofCeO2humidity sensors can be improved effectively by the addition of cationic surfactant.