Fabrication of low-pressure low-voltage field ionization gas sensor using pure and Al-doped ZnO nanowires

Abstract

\n\t\t\t\tZinc oxide nanowires were synthesized by a simple chemical method using zinc acetate dihydrate, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and DI water as precursor, capping and solvent, respectively. Aluminum-doped ZnO nanowires were also synthesized by adding AlCl3 during the growth process. Both types of nanowires were used to fabricate a novel field ionization based gas sensor. The high sensitivity in low pressures, low working voltages, very low recovery time and good selectivity are the main advantages of these fabricated sensors. Electrical characteristics of the fabricated sensors were investigated while being exposed to several gases. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to analyze the nanowires structures.\n\t\t\t