Ether gas-sensor based on Au nanoparticles-decorated ZnO microstructures

• Main Authors: Roberto López, Enrique Vigueras-Santiago, Alfredo Rafael Vilchis-Nestor, Victor Hugo Castrejón-Sánchez, Marco A. Camacho-López, Nayely Torres-Gómez
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2017-01-01
• Series: Results in Physics
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211379717303571
• ISSN: 2211-3797

An ether gas-sensor was fabricated based on gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) decorated zinc oxide microstructures (ZnO-MS). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) measurements were performed to study morphological and structural properties, respectively, of the ZnO-MS. The gas sensing response was evaluated in a relatively low temperature regime, which ranged between 150 and 250 °C. Compared with a sensor fabricated from pure ZnO-MS, the sensor based on Au-NPs decorated ZnO-MS showed much better ether gas response at the highest working temperature. In fact, pure ZnO-MS based sensor only showed a weak sensitivity of about 25%. The improvement of the ether gas response for sensor fabricated with Au-NPs decorated ZnO-MS was attributed to the catalytic activity of the Au-NPs. Keywords: ZnO microstructures, Au nanoparticles, Ether, Gas sensor