Facile Synthesis and UV-Activated Gas Sensing Performance of Ag:ZnO Nano-Ellipsoids

Abstract

A sensitive zinc oxide gas sensor decorated with Ag nanoparticles was prepared by the precipitation method to detect low concentrations of toxic gases at room temperature under ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UV-LED) illumination. The sensor was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) analyses. The results indicated a significant increase in sensor response toward 5 ppm NO2 (0.98) compared to pristine ZnO samples (0.5) due to charge carrier enhancement. The effect of UV irradiance was found to play an important role with respect to the response of the sensor.