Synthesis and Application of Ag2O Doped ZnO Based Sensor for Detecting CH4 Gas

In this study, highly sensitive Ag2O-doped ZnO nanorods based sensor was presented and developed to detect CH4 gas, an extremely significant fault characteristic gas extracted from power transformer oil. Ag2O-doped ZnO nanorods sensing materials were synthesized with facile hydrothermal method, and characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. Side heated chemical gas sensor was fabricated and its sensing performances towards CH4 were systematically investigated. The optimal operating temperature of the Ag2O-doped ZnO sensor was 280 degrees C for CH4 sensing, and its gas sensing response to 10 ppm CH4 was measured to be as high as 12.28. In addition, good linearity for low concentration of CH4 gas was also obtained. The corresponding response-recovery time of the Ag2O-doped ZnO sensor was measured to be about 17-10s. All results provide reference and guidance for developing high-performance ZnO based gas sensors for CH4 detection. All these excellent sensors performances indicate the large potential of the fabricated Ag2O decorated ZnO nanorods sensor for practical application of CH4 detection.