Sensitivity Improvement of Urchin-Like ZnO Nanostructures Using Two-Dimensional Electron Gas in MgZnO/ZnO

Abstract

This paper introduces a strategy for improving the sensitivity of a gas sensor to NO2 gas. The gas sensor was fabricated using urchin-like ZnO nanostructures grown on MgO particles via vapor-phase growth and decorated with MgZnO nanoparticles via a sol-gel process. The urchin-like ZnO gas sensor decorated with MgZnO showed higher sensitivity to NO2 gas than a pristine urchin-like ZnO gas sensor. When ZnO and MgZnO form a heterojunction, a two-dimensional electron gas is generated. This improves the performance of the fabricated gas sensor. The growth morphology, atomic composition, and phase structure were confirmed through field-emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction, respectively.