ZnO-Loaded Graphene for NO2 Gas Sensing

Identifier:  imarina:9325782

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina9325782

Authors:  Alouani, Mohamed Ayoub; Casanova-Chafer, Juan; Guell, Frank; Pena-Martin, Elisa; Ruiz-Martinez-Alcocer, Sara; de Bernardi-Martin, Santiago; Garcia-Gomez, Alejandra; Vilanova, Xavier; Llobet, Eduard

Abstract:
This paper investigates the effect of decorating graphene with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) for the detection of NO2. In this regard, two graphene sensors with different ZnO loadings of 5 wt.% and 20 wt.% were prepared, and their responses towards NO2 at room temperature and different conditions were compared. The experimental results demonstrate that the graphene loaded with 5 wt.% ZnO NPs (G95/5) shows better performance at detecting low concentrations of the target gas than the one loaded with 20 wt.% ZnO NPs (G80/20). Moreover, measurements under dry and humid conditions of the G95/5 sensor revealed that the material is very sensitive to ambient moisture, showing an almost eight-fold increase in NO2 sensitivity when the background changes from dry to 70% relative humidity. Regarding sensor selectivity, it presents a significant selectivity towards NO2 compared to other gas compounds.