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Effect of La incorporation on the NH3 sensing behaviour of ZnO thin films prepared using low-cost nebulizer spray technique

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Abstract

Lanthanum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:La) thin films were deposited using a nebulizer spray technique with La concentrations 0, 1, 3 and 5 wt%. The structural, morphological and gas sensing properties were studied. All the film samples exhibit considerable ammonia sensing ability. The gas sensing results show that the ZnO:La film with 3 wt% of La doping exhibits remarkable sensing response and fast response/recovery times (39 s/11 s) for 100 ppm of NH3 at room temperature. The reasons for the enhanced sensing ability of the doped films have been addressed with the help of the underlying mechanism, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and photoluminescence (PL) results.

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Acknowledgements

The author Dr. Mohd. Shkir expresses his appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University for funding part of characterization work through research groups program under Grant Number R.G.P.2/95/41.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Department of Physics, Kunthavai Naachiyaar Govt. Arts College for Women (Autonomous), (Affiliated to Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli.), Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613 007, India

    A. Jansi Santhosam

  2. Materials Science Research Laboratory, PG and Research Department of Physics, A.V.V.M Sri Pushpam College (Autonomous), (Affiliated to Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli.), Poondi, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613 503, India

    A. Jansi Santhosam & K. Ravichandran

  3. Advanced Functional Materials & Optoelectronic Laboratory (AFMOL), Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, Saudi Arabia

    Mohd. Shkir

  4. Functional Nanomaterials & Devices Lab, Centre for Nanotechnology & Advanced Biomaterials and School of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, SASTRA Deemed To Be University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, 613 401, India

    M. Sridharan

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  1. A. Jansi Santhosam
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Santhosam, A.J., Ravichandran, K., Shkir, M. et al. Effect of La incorporation on the NH3 sensing behaviour of ZnO thin films prepared using low-cost nebulizer spray technique. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 31, 13240–13248 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-020-03875-w

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