Design of Highly Selective Gas Sensors via Physicochemical Modification of Oxide Nanowires: Overview.

Strategies for the enhancement of gas sensing properties, and specifically the improvement of gas selectivity of metal oxide semiconductor nanowire (NW) networks grown by chemical vapor deposition and thermal evaporation, are reviewed. Highly crystalline NWs grown by vapor-phase routes have various advantages, and thus have been applied in the field of gas sensors over the years. In particular, n-type NWs such as SnO2, ZnO, and In2O3 are widely studied because of their simple synthetic preparation and high gas response. However, due to their usually high responses to C2H5OH and NO2, the selective detection of other harmful and toxic gases using oxide NWs remains a challenging issue. Various strategies-such as doping/loading of noble metals, decorating/doping of catalytic metal oxides, and the formation of core-shell structures-have been explored to enhance gas selectivity and sensitivity, and are discussed herein. Additional methods such as the transformation of n-type into p-type NWs and the formation of catalyst-doped hierarchical structures by branch growth have also proven to be promising for the enhancement of gas selectivity. Accordingly, the physicochemical modification of oxide NWs via various methods provides new strategies to achieve the selective detection of a specific gas, and after further investigations, this approach could pave a new way in the field of NW-based semiconductor-type gas sensors.

Co-doped branched ZnO nanowires for ultraselective and sensitive detection of xylene.

Co-doped branched ZnO nanowires were prepared by multistep vapor-phase reactions for the ultraselective and sensitive detection of p-xylene. Highly crystalline ZnO NWs were transformed into CoO NWs by thermal evaporation of CoCl2 powder at 700 °C. The Co-doped ZnO branches were grown subsequently by thermal evaporation of Zn metal powder at 500 °C using CoO NWs as catalyst. The response (resistance ratio) of the Co-doped branched ZnO NW network sensor to 5 ppm p-xylene at 400 °C was 19.55, which was significantly higher than those to 5 ppm toluene, C2H5OH, and other interference gases. The sensitive and selective detection of p-xylene, particularly distinguishing among benzene, toluene, and xylene with lower cross-responses to C2H5OH, can be attributed to the tuned catalytic activity of Co components, which induces preferential dissociation of p-xylene into more active species, as well as the increase of chemiresistive variation due to the abundant formation of Schottky barriers between the branches.

Highly sensitive and selective trimethylamine sensor using one-dimensional ZnO-Cr2O3 hetero-nanostructures.

Highly selective and sensitive detection of trimethylamine (TMA) was achieved by the decoration of discrete p-type Cr(2)O(3) nanoparticles on n-type ZnO nanowire (NW) networks. Semielliptical Cr(2)O(3) nanoparticles with lateral widths of 3-8 nm were deposited on ZnO NWs by the thermal evaporation of CrCl(2) at 630 °C, while a continuous Cr(2)O(3) shell layer with a thickness of 30-40 nm was uniformly coated on ZnO NWs at 670 °C. The response (R(a)/R(g): R(a), resistance in air; R(g), resistance in gas) to 5 ppm TMA of Cr(2)O(3)-decorated ZnO NWs was 17.8 at 400 °C, which was 2.4 times higher than that to 5 ppm C(2)H(5)OH and 4.3-8.4 times higher than those to 5 ppm p-xylene, NH(3), benzene, C(3)H(8), toluene, CO, and H(2). In contrast, both pristine ZnO and ZnO (core)-Cr(2)O(3) (shell) nanocables (NCs) showed comparable responses to the different gases. The highly selective and sensitive detection of TMA that was achieved by the deposition of semielliptical Cr(2)O(3) nanoparticles on ZnO NW networks was explained by the catalytic effect of Cr(2)O(3) and the extension of the electron depletion layer via the formation of p-n junctions.

Brush-shaped ZnO heteronanorods synthesized using thermal-assisted pulsed laser deposition.

Brush-shaped ZnO heteronanostructures were synthesized using a newly designed thermal-assisted pulsed laser deposition (T-PLD) system that combines the advantages of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and a hot furnace system. Branched ZnO nanostructures were successfully grown onto CVD-grown backbone nanowires by T-PLD. Although ZnO growth at 300 °C resulted in core-shell structures, brush-shaped hierarchical nanostructures were formed at 500-600 °C. Materials properties were studied via photoluminescence (PL), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterizations. The enhanced photocurrent of a SnO(2)-ZnO heterostructures device by irradiation with 365 nm wavelength ultraviolet (UV) light was also investigated by the current-voltage characteristics.

Thin-walled NiO tubes functionalized with catalytic Pt for highly selective C2H5OH sensors using electrospun fibers as a sacrificial template.

Hollow thin walled NiO tubes functionalized by catalytic Pt were synthesized via nanofiber templating and multilayered sputter-coating of Pt and NiO thin overlayers followed by heat-treatment at 600 °C. Sandwich Pt-NiO-Pt tube networks exhibited superior C(2)H(5)OH sensing response and remarkable selectivity against CO and H(2) gases.

Facile control of C2H5OH sensing characteristics by decorating discrete Ag nanoclusters on SnO2 nanowire networks.

The effect of Ag decoration on the gas sensing characteristics of SnO(2) nanowire (NW) networks was investigated. The Ag layers with thicknesses of 5-50 nm were uniformly coated on the surface of SnO(2) NWs via e-beam evaporation, which were converted into isolated or continuous configurations of Ag islands by heat treatment at 450 °C for 2 h. The SnO(2) NWs decorated by isolated Ag nano-islands displayed a 3.7-fold enhancement in gas response to 100 ppm C(2)H(5)OH at 450 °C compared to pristine SnO(2) NWs. In contrast, as the Ag decoration layers became continuous, the response to C(2)H(5)OH decreased significantly. The enhancement and deterioration of the C(2)H(5)OH sensing characteristics by the introduction of the Ag decoration layer were strongly governed by the morphological configurations of the Ag catalysts on SnO(2) NWs and their sensitization mechanism.

Selective detection of NO2 and C2H5OH using a Co3O4-decorated ZnO nanowire network sensor.

The selective detection of two different gases, NO(2) and C(2)H(5)OH, has been achieved using a p-type Co(3)O(4)-decorated n-type ZnO nanowire (NW) network sensor. The gas selectivity was explained by the catalytic effect of nanocrystalline Co(3)O(4) and the extension of the electron depletion layer via the formation of p-n junctions.