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Humidity-sensing properties of hierarchical ZnO/MWCNTs/ZnO nanocomposite film sensor based on electrostatic layer-by-layer self-assembly

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Abstract

This paper demonstrated a resistive-type humidity sensor with hierarchical ZnO/MWCNTs/ZnO nanocomposite film coated. Hydrothermally synthesized ZnO nanorods and functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were utilized to construct a humidity sensor by using electrostatic layer-by-layer (ELbL) self-assembly technique. The characterization results including scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction confirmed the successful formation of as-prepared nanostructures. The electrical properties of the sensing films were investigated under different deposition time in the ELbL self-assembly process. The humidity sensing behaviors of the ZnO/MWCNTs/ZnO hierarchical hybrid film were investigated in a wide relative humidity (RH) range. It is found that the sensor exhibited an excellent linear response with RH, small hysteresis, acceptable repeatability and swift response-recovery characteristics. The possible sensing mechanism for the presented sensor was attributed to the nanostructure of ZnO/MWCNTs/ZnO and swelling effects between interlayers. This study provided a benchmark for humidity sensor fabrication using ELbL self-assembly technique.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51407200), the Science and Technology Plan Project of Shandong Province (Grant No. 2014GSF117035), the Science and Technology Development Plan Project of Qingdao (Grant No. 13-1-4-179-jch), the Open Fund of National Engineering Laboratory for Ultra High Voltage Engineering Technology (Kunming, Guangzhou) (Grant No. NEL201518), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (Grant No. 15CX05041A), and the Science and Technology Project of Huangdao Zone, Qingdao, China (Grant No. 2014-1-51).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Information and Control Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, 266580, People’s Republic of China

    Dongzhi Zhang, Nailiang Yin, Bokai Xia & Yan Sun

  2. Electric Power Research Institute, CSG, Guangzhou, 510080, People’s Republic of China

    Yifan Liao, Zilan He & Shuang Hao

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  1. Dongzhi Zhang
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  2. Nailiang Yin
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Correspondence to Dongzhi Zhang.

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Zhang, D., Yin, N., Xia, B. et al. Humidity-sensing properties of hierarchical ZnO/MWCNTs/ZnO nanocomposite film sensor based on electrostatic layer-by-layer self-assembly. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 27, 2481–2487 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-015-4049-1

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