Promotional effects of Ag decoration on root-like ZnO microstructures for ethanol sensing

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics 2023-06, Vol.34 (17), p.1338, Article 1338
• Main Author: Kamalianfar, Ahmad
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air monitoring; Air pollution; Annealing; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemical synthesis; Chemistry and Materials Science; Crystallites; Ethanol; Gases; Lattice strain; Materials Science; Microstructure; Morphology; Nanoparticles; Nanorods; Nanowires; Operating temperature; Optical and Electronic Materials; Photovoltaic cells; Sensors; Silver; Spectrum analysis; Temperature; VOCs; Volatile organic compounds; Zinc oxide; Zinc oxides
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-023-10678-2

Root-like ZnO microstructure is synthesized using a chemical method, combined with physical deposition of Ag nanoparticles. The effect of annealing time on the gas-sensing characteristics was investigated. The Williamson-Hall analysis was used to study the crystallite sizes and lattice strain on the root-like Ag/ZnO structure. The results revealed that the average of crystallite size increases from 5.3 nm to 63.3 nm as the annealing time increases from 1h to 3h at 400 °C. The morphological study indicated that when the annealing time increases, the presence of numerous nanowires on the roots improves the conduction between the nanowires’ branches and backbones, which intensifies the gas-adsorption phenomena. In comparison with ZnO nanorods, the Ag/ZnO sensor demonstrated an excellent gas-sensing performance toward ethanol, with a maximum response value of 41.1 and a low operating temperature of 75 °C. The produced sensors indicated potential applications in the field of environmental air monitoring.