Synthesis of nitrogen doped ZnO nanorods and their application as a sensor

Abstract

Nanometer-sized one-dimensional ZnO based structures such as nanowires, nanofibers, nanotubes and nanorods have received wide attention as functional materials with great application potential. Among these structures, ZnO nanorod structure had been extensively studied for solar cell, sensors and photo-luminescence devices. Nitrogen doped ZnO (NZO) nanorods were synthesized by microemulsion method with different types of surfactants. The phase and morphology of the above nanorods were investigated by using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Scanning electron microscopy observations showed that the ZnO nanorods had diameters around 50-200 nm and lengths up to several micrometers. The CO gas sensing properties of the NZO nanorods were tested at operating temperatures of 200, 300 and 400°C. It was found that NZO nanorods based sensor exhibited the highest sensitivity to CO at 400°C.