Hydrothermal Synthesis of Various Hierarchical ZnO Nanostructures and Their Methane Sensing Properties
Hierarchical flower-like ZnO nanorods, net-like ZnO nanofibers and ZnO nanobulks have been successfully synthesized via a surfactant assisted hydrothemal method. The synthesized products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy, respectively. A p...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2013-05-01
|
| Series: | Sensors |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/13/5/6171 |
| Summary: | Hierarchical flower-like ZnO nanorods, net-like ZnO nanofibers and ZnO nanobulks have been successfully synthesized via a surfactant assisted hydrothemal method. The synthesized products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy, respectively. A possible growth mechanism of the various hierarchical ZnO nanostructures is discussed in detail. Gas sensors based on the as-prepared ZnO nanostructures were fabricated by screen-printing on a flat ceramic substrate. Furthermore, their gas sensing characteristics towards methane were systematically investigated. Methane is an important characteristic hydrocarbon contaminant found dissolved in power transformer oil as a result of faults. We find that the hierarchical flower-like ZnO nanorods and net-like ZnO nanofibers samples show higher gas response and lower operating temperature with rapid response-recovery time compared to those of sensors based on ZnO nanobulks. These results present a feasible way of exploring high performance sensing materials for on-site detection of characteristic fault gases dissolved in transformer oil. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1424-8220 |