Preparation of ZnO <sub> 1‐ <i>x</i> </sub> by peroxide thermal decomposition and its room temperature gas sensing properties
Chao Zhang, Ying Li, Guifang Liu, Hanlin Liao
Abstract
The excessive concentration of NO 2 in the atmosphere has gained considerable attention due to its damage to the environment and human health. Gas sensor technology has important application prospects in detecting atmospheric NO 2 concentration. Restricted by its wide bandgap, pristine ZnO needs additional energy to power the electronic transition as a gas sensing material. To overcome the obvious shortcoming of traditional ZnO sensors, it is necessary to design and prepare ZnO‐based sensors which can operate under visible light excitation at room temperature. The ZnO‐based gas sensors rich in oxygen vacancies are produced by peroxide thermal decomposition. The gas sensors show prominent gas response to 1 × 10 −6 NO 2 under visible light at room temperature. From the combination of characterizations and experiments, we can find that the concentration of oxygen vacancies has a close relationship with the time of peroxidation. The prolonged peroxidation treatment time has a positive impact on the oxygen vacancies concentration and gas sensing performance.