Fabrication of ZnO Nanoparticles Modified by Uniformly Dispersed Ag Nanoparticles: Enhancement of Gas Sensing Performance

Shuo Wang, Fuchao Jia, Xiaomei Wang, Leqi Hu, Yuping Sun, Guangchao Yin, Tong Zhou, Zhenyu Feng, Parveen Kumar, Bo Liu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

89 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles modified with uniformly dispersed silver (Ag) nanoparticles (Ag-ZnO) were prepared in one step by calcining precursor electrospun nanofibers. The molar ratios of Ag to Zn in the precursor solutions were 0, 1, 3, and 5%. The microstructure of the Ag-ZnO sensor was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The existence of metallic Ag was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and the gas sensing properties of Ag-ZnO were investigated. The results showed that the ZnO nanoparticles after Ag nanoparticles modification exhibited excellent gas sensing performance to ethanol and hydrogen sulfide (H,S). The optimal working temperature of the AgZnO sensor significantly decreased for ethanol compared with pure ZnO. The 3% Ag-ZnO sensor exhibited the fastest response to ethanol with the response/recovery times of only S and 9s, respectively. However, all the Ag-ZnO-based gas sensors showed a high response value to H2S, especially the 3% Ag-ZnO gas sensor exhibited a maximum response value of 298 at 10 ppm H2S. These results could be attributed to the spillover effect and electron sensitization effect of Ag nanoparticles, which led to more absorbed oxygen species and active sites, and thereby can further enhance the gas sensing performances of ZnO-based gas sensors.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5209-5218
Number of pages10
JournalACS Omega
Volume5
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020
Externally publishedYes

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