Controllable hydrothermal synthesis of Al-doped ZnO with different microstructures, growth mechanisms, and gas sensing properties

Abstract

A series of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) structures, including disk-like, flake-like, flower-like and dumbbell-like morphologies, have been synthesized by a hydrothermal method without any catalyst or template. The morphologies of these AZO structures can be conveniently controlled, by selecting the additives and controlling the experimental conditions, and the result has excellent reproducibility. The gas sensors based on AZO were fabricated and the gas sensing properties were investigated. The sensors showed high response values and reproducible response-recovery for 5-500 ppm ethanol at 332°C, comparing with NH3, CH3OH, H2, CO, HCHO, NOxand a specific mechanism was proposed.

Luminescence Properties of Nano Zinc Oxide Doped with Al(III) Ions Obtained in Microwave-Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis

“…In many cases, the materials we obtained were characterized by a smaller grain size. The processes described in the literature were carried out using higher temperatures [33][34][35][36][37][38]. By using a microwave reactor, we were able to shorten the process time and run the process at lower temperatures.…”

“…Thin layers of nano zinc oxide doped with different ions can be obtained by the sol-gel method [24][25][26][27][28] and by vacuum condensation [29][30][31][32]. In addition, zinc oxide doped with Al(III) ions can also be obtained by a hydrothermal method using various precursors [33][34][35][36][37][38].…”

NH 4 F-assisted one-pot solution synthesis of hexagonal ZnO microdiscs for efficient ultraviolet photodetection

“…In order to obtain high-quality ZnO microdiscs, vapour phase methods, such as vapour phase transport (VPT) and chemical vapour deposition (CVD), have been widely used. The photoluminescence (PL) properties of ZnO nano-/micro-discs with whispering-gallery mode [14,15] and the growth mechanism have been studied [13,16]. However, the VPT and CVD methods need high temperature in the process, leading to high energy cost, which is not good for our environment.…”