Fabrication and CO sensing properties of mesostructured ZnO gas sensors

This study presents the synthesis of mesostructured ZnO using a template replication method and the fabrication of a carbon monoxide sensor using the synthesized ZnO using the dielectrophoresis process. The mesoporous carbon, CMK-3, was employed for the template and zinc nitrite was used as the precursor for synthesizing the ordered porous ZnO. The mesostructured ZnO was analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms. The XRD patterns indicated that the ZnO exhibited a highly ordered structure after the template was removed. The morphology of the ZnO was randomly oriented and the structure was polycrystalline. The surface area, pore volume, and pore size of the porous ZnO were 61.3 m2 g-1, 0.31 cm3 g-1, and 5.3 nm, respectively. When CO gas was injected, the optimum sensitivities at 250°C were 12.1, 14.6, 18.4, 26.0, and 60% when the CO concentrations were 10, 20, 30, 50, and 70 ppm, respectively.