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A comparative study on enhancer and inhibitor of glycine–nitrate combustion ZnO screen-printed sensor: detection of low concentration ammonia at room temperature

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Abstract

We report a comparative study on enhancing and inhibiting the sensing performance of Sr-doped ZnO (Sr0.01 Zn0.99O) and RuO2-activated Sr-doped ZnO heterostructured sensors towards the low concentration (≤ 50 ppm) of ammonia gas at ambient. Sub-microns sized with high specific surface area, high reactive, oxygen-deficient Sr-doped ZnO particles were synthesized at low temperature (196 °C) through facile glycine–nitrate solution combustion synthesis (SCS) method. Porous, adhered screen-printed film of Sr-doped ZnO with optical bandgap (3.22 eV) was dip-coated using 0.02 M RuCl3 aqueous solution to obtain RuO2 activation. Smaller crystallite size and lesser lattice distortion obtained with Sr-doping in ZnO enhance the gas response (S = 71) towards the 50 ppm of ammonia gas at room temperature. RuO2-activated Sr-doped ZnO sensor associated with lesser oxygen vacancies and a lower concentration of chemisorbed oxygen species due to passivation layer and no-spill-over activity of RuO2, which inhibits the gas response from 71 to 3. Sr-doped ZnO-based sensor shows high selectivity towards ammonia against 50 ppm of volatile organic compound (VOCs) vapor. Expeditious sensor kinetics (response time and recovery time) in the Sr-doped ZnO sensor was observed, in which smaller crystallite size offers a shorter distance for the diffusion of oxygen vacancies (Vo). Ultra-high-sensitive and selective sensors with ease and economical fabrication offer feasibility in industries and domestic applications where detection of the less concentration ammonia vapor is crucial.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support from Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology, India (Grant No. ECR/2015/000339) is gratefully acknowledged. One of the author P. Nagaraju would like to thank DST-SERB for financial support to carry out the present work (Grant No. ECR/2016/000534).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, 575 025, India

    G. Manjunath & Saumen Mandal

  2. Nanosensor Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, CMR Technical Campus, Medchal, Hyderabad, 501401, India

    P. Nagaraju

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  1. G. Manjunath
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  2. P. Nagaraju
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  3. Saumen Mandal
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Correspondence to Saumen Mandal.

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Manjunath, G., Nagaraju, P. & Mandal, S. A comparative study on enhancer and inhibitor of glycine–nitrate combustion ZnO screen-printed sensor: detection of low concentration ammonia at room temperature. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 31, 10366–10380 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-020-03584-4

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