Room temperature ethanol sensor with sub-ppm detection limit: Improving the optical response by using mesoporous silica foam

[Display omitted] •Room temperature ethanol sensor with sub-ppm detection limit was developed.•The measuring principle is reflectometric interference spectroscopy (RIfS).•The beneficial sensing characteristics of mesoporous silica and RIfS were combined.•The sensor response is linear in the 0.5–12ppm concentration range.•Only a slight quadratic deviation occurs in higher (2–40ppm) concentration range. In this paper, the improvement in room temperature ethanol sensing characteristics of zinc peroxide (ZnO2) based hybrid thin films is presented by the combination of the beneficial sensing properties of mesoporous materials and reflectometric interference spectroscopy (RIfS). The hybrid thin films were prepared by Layer-by-Layer (LbL) self-assembly method from ZnO2 nanoparticles, polyelectrolyte [poly(acrylic acid), PAA] and/or mesoporous silica (MPS). The expected improved sensing properties were attributed to the fractal properties and high specific surface area (as) of the mesoporous coating/interlayer material, which was evidenced by small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and N2 sorption measurements (as>650m2/g). The sensor tests showed that the detection limit of the thin films is in the sub-ppm range (