A comparative study of the gas sensing properties of hierarchical ZnO nanostructures

• Published in: Physica status solidi. C Vol. 13; no. 7-9; pp. 688 - 692
• Main Authors: Capochichi-Gnambodoe, Martine, Habba, Yamina Ghozlane, Leprince-Wang, Yamin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin WILEY-VCH Verlag 01.07.2016; WILEY‐VCH Verlag; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Acetone; Condensed Matter; Detection; Ethanol; Ethyl alcohol; gas sensing; Gas sensors; hierarchical nanostructure; Materials Science; Nanostructure; Nanowires; Physics; Zinc oxide; ZnO nanowires
• ISSN: 1862-6351; 1610-1634; 1610-1642
• DOI: 10.1002/pssc.201510301

Two types of ZnO nanostructure have been fabricated to make a comparative study on their gas sensing performance: the conventional ZnO nanowire arrays were synthesized by hydrothermal method and the hierarchical ZnO nanowires/nanofibers nanostructures were prepared through a combination of the hydrothermal and electrospinning methods. Field emission scanning electron microscopy study showed a quiet homogeneous morphology both for both nanostructures. Three kinds of commonly used gases, such as ethanol, acetone and ammonia were chosen for ZnO nanostructure gas sensing property study. The UV‐Visible spectroscopy measurements showed a higher detection sensitivity of ZnO NWs for ammonia compared to ethanol and acetone, and an enhanced sensing performance for the hierarchical nano‐ structure, which has a higher surface to volume ratio. On the other hand, the enhancement was more obviously in the case of ethanol sensing. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)