Gas sensing property of ZnO under visible light irradiation at room temperature

Abstract The photo-responded behavior of ZnO and its sensing response to ethylene or acetone under visible-light irradiation at room temperature were reported. A ZnO sensor without any response to target gas in the air atmosphere in dark at room temperature, exhibits not only a photo response but also an obvious sensing response to target gas in the air atmosphere under visible-light irradiation. It is suggested that the non-intrinsic photo-absorption induced by the native defects of ZnO (i.e., the two-photon or multi-photon excitation process via the intraband) may be responsible for the photo-responded behavior to the visible light. Moreover, a mechanism model that accounts for the solid-state process of photo-carrier generation/recombination is proposed to explain the photo-induced gas sensing response of ZnO under visible-light irradiation. This indicates that the photo-activated gas sensing response property of semi-conductor can be also caused by its non-intrinsic photo-absorption.

[1]  Elisabetta Comini,et al.  UV light activation of tin oxide thin films for NO2 sensing at low temperatures , 2001 .

[2]  C. Che,et al.  Efficient multiphoton-absorption-induced luminescence in single-crystalline ZnO at room temperature. , 2005, Optics letters.

[3]  H. Morkoç,et al.  A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF ZNO MATERIALS AND DEVICES , 2005 .

[4]  Mahuya Chakrabarti,et al.  Role of defects in tailoring structural, electrical and optical properties of ZnO , 2009 .

[5]  Hung‐Yu Lin,et al.  Two-photon resonance assisted huge nonlinear refraction and absorption in ZnO thin films , 2005 .

[6]  Jacek Rynkowski,et al.  The influence of catalytic activity on the response of Pt/SnO2 gas sensors to carbon monoxide and hydrogen , 2011 .

[7]  Li Yang,et al.  Observation of two-photon-induced photoluminescence in ZnO microtubes , 2005 .

[8]  Guido Faglia,et al.  Gas-sensitive properties of thin film heterojunction structures based on Fe2O3–In2O3 nanocomposites , 2003 .

[9]  Jihye Gwak,et al.  Catalytic combustion type hydrogen gas sensor using TiO2 and UV-LED , 2007 .

[10]  G. Lu,et al.  UV-activated room temperature metal oxide based gas sensor attached with reflector , 2012 .

[11]  Richard J. Ewen,et al.  Highly sensitive room temperature sensors based on the UV-LED activation of zinc oxide nanoparticles , 2008 .

[12]  Xianzhi Fu,et al.  Effects of electron transfer between TiO2 films and conducting substrates on the photocatalytic oxidation of organic pollutants. , 2006, The journal of physical chemistry. B.

[13]  C. Xie,et al.  A study of photocurrent spectrum of porous ZnO film sensitized by metal chloride solutions , 2012 .

[14]  B. Su,et al.  New phenomenon in the channels of mesoporous silicate CMI-1: quantum size effect and two-photon absorption of ZnO nanoparticles , 2007 .

[15]  Xianzhi Fu,et al.  The correlation between the ethylene response and its oxidation over TiO2 under UV irradiation , 2012 .

[16]  Vinayak P. Dravid,et al.  UV-activated room-temperature gas sensing mechanism of polycrystalline ZnO , 2009 .

[17]  Giorgio Sberveglieri,et al.  Light enhanced gas sensing properties of indium oxide and tin dioxide sensors , 2000 .

[18]  V. S. Sapkal,et al.  Structural and gas sensing properties of nanocrystalline TiO2:WO3-based hydrogen sensors , 2006 .

[19]  Changsheng Xie,et al.  Visible-light activate mesoporous WO3 sensors with enhanced formaldehyde-sensing property at room temperature , 2012 .

[20]  J. T. Ranney,et al.  The Surface Science of Metal Oxides , 1995 .