Highly sensitive and selective acetone gas sensor-based La-doped ZnO nanostructured thin film

In the present study, the spray pyrolysis technique is used to synthesize pure and La-doped ZnO nanostructured thin films. The prepared films were characterized structurally, optically, and morphologically. The sensor showed a highly selective nature towards acetone gas. The prepared La-doped ZnO sensor showed an increased response of 82.57 % for 50 ppm of acetone gas operating at 150 oC with faster response and recovery times of 26 s and 27 s, respectively. The resulting sensing performances were found to be reproducible with no evidence of ageing. The observed exceptional gas sensing performance was attributed to the higher surface-to-volume ratio, increased surface defects, and morphology. This work provides insight into fabricating the acetone gas sensor operating at lower temperatures.