Maize straw-templated hierarchical porous ZnO:Ni with enhanced acetone gas sensing properties

Novel maize straw- templated hierarchical porous Ni doped ZnO (STHPS ZnO:Ni) was synthesized by a simple and cost-effective biotemplate method. The structure and morphology of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and N-2 adsorption-desorption analyses. The results reveal that the as-prepared ZnO:Ni retained the original pore morphology of the maize straw material, and the framework was composed of a large amount of nanoparticles which were nonuniform in size and shape. The gas sensing tests reveal that STHPS ZnO:Ni gas sensors exhibited enhanced gas sensing performance to acetone. The responses of STHPS ZnO:Ni gas sensors to 100 ppm acetone operated at 340 degrees C were 68 and the response and recovery times were about 6 s and 2s. The detection limit was estimated to be 116 ppb. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.