Application of Nasicon and YSZ for the construction of CO2 and SOx potentiometric gas sensors

Solid-state potentiometric CO2 and SOx sensors were fabricated using Nasicon (Na3Zr2Si2PO12) or YSZ (ZrO2 + 8 mole % of Y2O3) solid electrolytes, with fused carbonates or sulphates as sensing electrodes and Na2Ti6O13–Na2Ti3O7 two-phase systems or porous platinum as reference electrodes. A comparison of the performance and long-term stability of the prepared sensors was made. More stable behaviour of CO2 sensors was observed for cells prepared from Nasicon while SOx sensors with YSZ used as the solid electrolyte displayed a better performance. The sensing mechanism and long-term stability of the investigated cells was discussed in terms of the possible reactivity of solid electrolytes with the electrode materials and the formation and modification of “ionic-bridges” at the solid electrolyte–electrode interface.