High-performance liquefied petroleum gas sensing based on nanostructures of zinc oxide and zinc stannate

Toxic and combustible gas detection plays a major role in environmental air quality monitoring. Real-time monitoring of hazardous gases and signal of accidental leakages is of great importance owing to the concern for safety requirements in industries and household applications. A simple and economical method for the fabrication of highly sensitive zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods based gas sensors for detecting low concentrations of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) was studied in this work. Platinum (Pt) nanoparticles were deposited on the sensing medium which acts as catalysts to improve the sensor performance. The change in electrical resistance of the metal oxide semiconductor for varying concentrations of LPG was measured. Maximum response of 59% was achieved for 9000 ppm LPG at 250 degrees C. Further to improve the sensing performance of the sensor towards LPG, surface modification of ZnO nanorods using zinc stannate (Zn2SnO4) microcubes was performed. High response of 63% was observed for 3000 ppm LPG at 250 degrees C. Significant improvement in response of the sensor with Zn2SnO4 microcubes on ZnO nanorods was observed when compared to sensor with ZnO nanorods. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.