Fabrication of Zinc Oxide Nanostructures for UV and Gas Sensing Applications

Abstract

Zinc Oxide (ZnO) is a wide-band- gap (3.37 eV) semiconductor of II-VI semiconductor group. The native doping of the semiconductor due to oxygen vacancies or zinc interstitial is n-type. Synthesis of both ZnO thin films and (One- Dimension) 1D nano-structure of ZnO is a potential candidate for Gas Sensing, UV sensing and Immuno-sensors for Viruses, in LEDs and in Solar Cell application as an electron transporting layer. The realization of high aspect ratio of Aluminum doped ZnO (AZO) nanorods is critical to the development of high-quality nanostructure based optoelectronic and electronic devices.

In the initial parts, basic information relating to the gas sensing technologies and Zinc Oxide itself is provided, followed by a study of the potential applications of Zinc Oxide. Later on, the experimental procedure is described, after which the final characterization and results are discussed.

In this project, we aimed a solution-based synthesis method to grow vertically aligned high aspect ratio AZO nanorods on transparent conducting oxide (TCO) substrate for UV light and Gas sensing applications (for sensing CH4, CO and CO2) at room temperature... Al and Ca doping has also been done to increase the selectivity of the gas sensor so that it can detect targeted gas from different gases present in the environment. The structural, morphological, optical and gas sensing properties of synthesized ZnO and Doped ZnO nanostructures has also be examined. We have successfully made a highly sensitive gas sensor which detects targeted gas at room temperature.