AuNPs Hybrid Black ZnO Nanorods Made by a Sol-Gel Method for Highly Sensitive Humidity Sensing

Abstract

A highly sensitive self-powered humidity sensor has been realized from AuNPs hybrid black zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods prepared through a sol-gel method. XRD pattern reveals that both ZnO and ZnO/AuNPs exhibit a wurtzite structure. ZnO/AuNPs nanorods grow in a vertical alignment, which possesses high uniformity and forms dense arrays with a smaller diameter than that of ZnO nanoparticles. All ZnO/AuNPs and pure black ZnO show lower band gap energy than the typically reported 3.34 eV of pure ZnO. Furthermore, the band gap of ZnO/AuNPs nanocomposites is effectively influenced by the amount of AuNPs. The humidity sensing tests clearly prove that all the ZnO/AuNPs humidity sensors exhibit much higher response than that of ZnO sensors, and the sensitivity of such ZnO/AuNPs nanorods (6 mL AuNPs) display a change three orders higher than that of pure ZnO with relative humidity (RH) ranging from 11% to 95% at room temperature. The response and recovery time of the ZnO/AuNPs are 5.6 s and 32.4 s, respectively. This study of the construction of semiconductor/noble metal sensors provides a rational way to control the morphology of semiconductor nanomaterials and to design a humidity sensor with high performance.

Effects of pH on High-Performance ZnO Resistive Humidity Sensors Using One-Step Synthesis

“…The diffraction peaks of all the samples were observed at 2θ of 31.96°, 34.58°, 36.43°, 47.67°, 56.78°, 62.98°, 66.51°, 68.01°, and 69.20°, and the corresponding lattice planes were (100), (002), (101), (102), (110), (103), (200), (112), (201), which is consistent with the typical hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO (JCPDS No. 36-1451) [25]. All the peaks were clear and sharp, indicating that the synthesized ZnO had good crystallinity.…”

The Multisensor Array Based on Grown-On-Chip Zinc Oxide Nanorod Network for Selective Discrimination of Alcohol Vapors at Sub-ppm Range

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