Sensitive and fast response ethanol chemical sensor based on as-grown Gd2O3 nanostructures

Well crystalline gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3) nanostructures were grown by annealing the hydrothermally as-prepared nanostructures without using any template. Microscopic studies of Gd2O3 nanostructures were recorded along the [111] direction due to the clearly resolved interplanar distance d((222))-0.31 nm of the cubic crystal structure Gd2O3. Sensing mechanism of Gd2O3 as efficient electron mediator for the detection of ethanol was explored. As-fabricated sensor demonstrated the high-sensitivity of similar to 0.266 mu Am/M/cm(2) with low detection limit (similar to 52.2 mu mol/L) and correlation coefficient (r(2), 0.618). To the best of our knowledge, this was the first report for the detection of ethanol using as-grown (at 1000 degrees C) Gd2O3 nanostructures by simple and reliable I-V technique and rapid assessment of the reaction kinetics (in the order of seconds). The low cost of the starting reagents and the simplicity of the synthetic route made it a promising chemical sensor for the detection of various toxic analytes, which are not environmentally safe.