Acetylene Sensing by ZnO/TiO2 Nanoparticles

Abstract

We adopted the sol–gel and hydrothermal methods to prepare the TiO2 nanomaterials doped with ZnO. We adopted X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method to investigate the materials’ structures and morphologies. The results showed that the prepared TiO2 nanomaterials had uniform size and good dispersibility. Gas sensors were fabricated and their performances in acetylene sensing were assessed. The results show that the sensor prepared with the ZnO/TiO2 nanomaterial doped with 10 wt% ZnO gave fast response and recovery times for acetylene gas at different concentrations. When the operating temperature was 280 °C, the gas sensor detected 200 ppm acetylene gas with a response sensitivity of 9.9, a response time of 5 s, and a recovery time of 2 s.