Al-Doped Dumbbell-Like ZnO for Enhanced Ethanol Sensing Performance

A dumbbell-like Al doped ZnO(AZO) microstructure was successfully synthesized via a facile, controllable and one-pot hydrothermal method. The samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS and TEM. It showed that all the samples present dumbbell-like structure composed of highly crystalline hexagonal wurtzite ZnO. The dumbbell-like structure is formed through the self-assembly of Al-dopled ZnO nanodisks. Gas sensing tests reveal that the Al-doped dumbbell-like ZnO microstructure (3 at %) shows excellent gas sensing response (5.37 for ethanol with 1 ppm) for ethanol with shorter response-recovery time (53 s/21 s). The notable sensing performance could be mainly attributed to the increased content of oxygen vacancy in ZnO due to the Al doping. Thus, the Al-doped dumbbell-like ZnO microstructures could provide an inspiration for the design and preparation of the highly sensitive ethanol gas sensor with the controllable electronic structure.