Co-doped ZnO nanofibers fabricated via electrospinning for rapid and ppb-level detection of listeria biomarker 3-hydroxy-2-butanone

• Published in: Ceramics international 2024-12, Vol.50 (23), p.50418-50426
• Main Authors: Li, Yan, Song, Gang-Long, Lian, Xiao-Xue
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 3-Hydroxy-2-butanone sensor; Co-doped ZnO nanofibers; Electrospinning; Gas sensing
• ISSN: 0272-8842
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2024.09.387

Listeria monocytogenes, a food-borne pathogen capable of releasing biomarker 3-hydroxy-2-butanone (3H-2B), generally causes a serious threat to human health. Developing 3H-2B gas sensor with excellent performance is of great significance in the diagnosis and prevention of Listeria. Here, we have successfully fabricated Co-doped ZnO nanofibers gas sensor via an electrospinning method, which can be well used for real-time monitoring of Listeria. The results show that the Co-doped ZnO nanofibers have a wurtzite crystal structure and a nanofiber-like morphology with a diameter of 62 nm. The band gap (3.15 eV) of the Co-doped ZnO is significantly narrower than that of the pure ZnO (3.25 eV). The response (168) of the 0.5%Co-doped ZnO based sensor to 100 ppm 3H-2B at 305 °C is 5.37 times greater than that of the pure ZnO (31.3), with a high selectivity, a lower detection limit (100 ppb) and a short response time of 1 s. The enhanced gas sensing mechanism is ascribed to the depletion layer on the ZnO surface, a superposition effect of interface barrier, and the narrowed band gap of the ZnO. [Display omitted]