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A novel low-concentration isopropanol gas sensor based on Fe-doped ZnO nanoneedles and its gas sensing mechanism

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Abstract

The detection of lung cancer via the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath has attracted a lot of attention as it is simple and non-invasive for the patients. Among the numerous VOCs exist in the breath, isopropanol is believed to be an important biomarker that can help to discriminate between healthy and unhealthy people. In this work, a highly sensitive Fe-doped ZnO nanoneedles-based gas sensor was studied for the detection of isopropanol at low concentrations (below 10 ppm). The pure and Fe-doped ZnO were synthesized via a hydrothermal method and spray-coated onto an alumina substrates equipped with a pair of gold interdigitated electrodes. The morphologies of the sensing layers were characterized by SEM, while the phase structure and composition were determined by XRD. The sensing properties of pure and Fe-doped ZnO were investigated under different temperatures and concentrations. It is found that Fe doping significantly increased the sensing performance of ZnO nanoneedles. The optimal doping concentration of Fe is 5 at% for isopropanol detection, and the optimal working temperature is 275 °C. The sensor showed a high response to 250 ppb isopropanol, together with high stability under different humidity levels.

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Acknowledgements

This work is financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 51872254, the National Key Research and Development Program of China under Grant No. 2017YFE0115900, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Walloon Region of Belgium through the Interreg V France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen program, under PATHACOV project (No. 1.1.297) and the Micro+ project co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Wallonia, Belgium (No. 675781-642409).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Mechanical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Huayang West Road 196, Yangzhou, 225127, Jiangsu Province, People’s Republic of China

    Yifan Luo & Chao Zhang

  2. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225002, People’s Republic of China

    Yifan Luo

  3. Service de Science Des Matériaux, Faculté Polytechnique, University of Mons, Rue de l’Epargne 56, 7000, Mons, Belgium

    Yifan Luo & Marc Debliquy

  4. Material Science Department, Materia Nova ASBL, 7000, Mons, Belgium

    Ahmadou Ly & Driss Lahem

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  1. Yifan Luo
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Correspondence to Chao Zhang or Marc Debliquy.

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Luo, Y., Ly, A., Lahem, D. et al. A novel low-concentration isopropanol gas sensor based on Fe-doped ZnO nanoneedles and its gas sensing mechanism. J Mater Sci 56, 3230–3245 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05453-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05453-1

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