Vertically aligned zno nanorod sensor on flexible substrate for ethanol gas monitoring

Abstract

Vertically aligned ZnO nanorods were grown on flexible polyimide films by a thermolysis assisted chemical solution method to fabricate an ethanol sensing material. Flexible ZnO nanorod sensors were examined to monitor ethanol gas by varying the working temperature from 300 to 125°C and by changing the ethanol concentration in a range from 100 to 10 ppm in synthetic air. A flexible ZnO nanorod sensor can detect 100 ppm of ethanol gas with a sensitivity of 3.11 at 300°C. When compared with ZnO nanorod sensors fabricated on a silicon dioxide hard substrate, its sensing performance exhibited competitive sensitivity. © 2010 The Electrochemical Society.