Sensors and Actuators B 178 (2013) 149–154

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Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/snb

Precursor controlled morphology of zinc oxide and its sensing behaviour

Onkar Singh, Nipin Kohli, Ravi Chand Singh ∗
Department of Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar 143 005, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Effect of various precursors on structural and hence sensing properties of ZnO has been reported in this
Received 17 September 2012 paper. Zinc chloride, zinc nitrate and zinc acetate have been employed as precursor solutions for the
Received in revised form synthesis of zinc oxide nanostructures. The structure and morphology of crystals were characterized
13 December 2012
by X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy. X-ray study confirmed the poly-
Accepted 14 December 2012
crystalline nature with hexagonal wurtzite structure of zinc oxide. The field emission scanning electron
Available online 26 December 2012
microscope investigation revealed that samples prepared from different precursors have yielded differ-
ent morphologies. Gas sensors have been fabricated using synthesized samples of ZnO to examine their
Keywords:
Nanostructures
response towards different alcohols. The effect of precursors on the morphologies and hence on the sens-
Oxides ing behavior of zinc oxide was systematically investigated. Out of all the precursors used, zinc acetate
Chemical synthesis yielded morphology of zinc oxide which exhibited enhanced sensing response towards alcohols.
Electron microscopy © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
X-ray diffraction

1. Introduction The crystal structure and morphology of the ZnO crystals pre-
dict their properties and consequently applications for which they
Research work on synthesis and functionalism of nanostruc- could be utilized [14–17]. Depending upon the different synthesis
tures recently has gained much significance due to their important techniques, various types of nanostructures of zinc oxide such as
applications [1–4]. Controlled synthesis of semiconductor nanos- nanorods, nanowires, nanorings and nanobelts may be obtained
tructures have been strongly motivated and used for various [2]. The surface morphology is of specific attention for enhanc-
applications depending upon their structural properties [5–7]. ing gas sensing performance [1,11]. Bacaksiz et al. have studied
Amid various semiconducting oxides, zinc oxide is an important the effect of precursors on the structural and optical properties of
material due to its wide band gap (3.37 eV), high electron mobil- ZnO thin films obtained by spray pyrolysis [18]. Krishnan et al.
ity and large exciton binding energy at room temperature, and can have reported the precursor controlled synthesis of hierarchical
be synthesized into a variety of nanostructures [8–11]. Because of ZnO nanostructures, using oligoaniline coated Au nanoparticles
these characteristic properties, ZnO has been employed in trans- seeds [19]. Shouli et al. have investigated sensing response of
parent electronics, spintronic devices, optoelectronics and sensor morphologically different ZnO nanorods obtained by using vari-
applications [8–11]. Zinc oxide is quite a promising material for sen- ous surfactants [13]. As for as thin films are concerned a large
sors for monitoring air quality because of its simplicity, low cost, number of researchers have studied the effect of precursors on
lower power consumption and fast sensing response. This mate- morphology, however similar reports on bulk or nanocrystalline
rial has been extensively studied for the detection of toxic and powder are scarce [16–25]. It is important to mention here that
inflammable gases like C2 H5 OH, CO, NO2 , and CH4 [11–13]. It is the sensing behavior affected by various morphologies obtained
well known that the gas sensing mechanism is based on the inter- from different precursors has not been reported in the litera-
action between the test gas molecules and adsorbed oxygen species ture.
on the surface of metal oxide [1]. The amount of adsorbed oxy- In the present study, various distinct morphologies of zinc
gen is strongly dependent on morphology, surface area and grain oxide were obtained by co-precipitation method from different
size of the sensing material [1]. Thus many researchers are trying precursor solutions. The samples were characterized by X-ray
to develop innovative methods for the synthesis of morphologi- diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy. Fur-
cally different zinc oxide having potential application in gas sensing thermore the effect of morphology on gas sensing behaviour
[2,11–13]. of ZnO towards different organic vapour has been investigated.
The novelty in the present study lies in the fact that differ-
ent precursors lead to different morphologies which ultimately
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 9914129939. have significant effect on the gas sensing behaviour of zinc oxide
E-mail address: ravichand.singh@gmail.com (R.C. Singh). nanostructures.

0925-4005/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2012.12.053
150 O. Singh et al. / Sensors and Actuators B 178 (2013) 149–154

(101)
(100)

(110)
(002)

(102)

(103)

(112)
(201)
(200)

(004)

(202)
c
Intensity (a. u.)

20 30 40 50 60 70 80

2θ (deg.)

Fig. 1. X-ray diffraction pattern of zinc oxide synthesized from precursors (a) zinc
chloride, (b) zinc nitrate and (c) zinc acetate.

2. Experimental details

2.1. Material

Chemical reagents such as ZnCl2 , Zn(NO3 )2 ·6H2 O,

Zn(CH3 COO)2 ·2H2 O and ammonia solution were all of analyt-
ical grade and were used as received without further purification.
Distilled water was used throughout the experiment.

2.1.1. Preparation of zinc oxide powders

Zinc oxide powders were prepared by following a simple chem-
ical route. Three different solutions of zinc chloride, zinc nitrate
hexahydrate and zinc acetate dihydrate, each having 0.2 M con-
centration, were prepared in distilled water. Precipitates of zinc
hydroxide were obtained on adding ammonium hydroxide drop
wise to each solution at room temperature with continuous stir-
ring for half an hour. The precipitates thus obtained were separated
from rest of the liquids by filtering and were washed and dried into
powder at 120 ◦ C temperature. The powders thus obtained from
three different recipes were crushed and calcined at 500 ◦ C for three
hours separately.
In order to understand the structural properties of synthesized
samples we subjected them to XRD and FESEM techniques for char-
acterization. X-ray diffraction was carried out with Shimadzu 7000
Diffractometer by using Cu-K␣ radiation and FESEM was done by
FEI Quanta 200 F. Elemental composition of powder was examined
by energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX).

2.2. Sensor preparation and testing method

To fabricate thick film sensors, a paste was prepared by mixing

a pinch of sintered powder with distilled water. The thick films of
paste were then painted with a fine brush onto an alumina sub-
strate having gold electrical contacts 2 mm apart. No material as a
binder was used since fine particles of zinc oxide were self-binding Fig. 2. FESEM images of the nanostructured ZnO powders synthesized using pre-
very well. Three identical samples prepared from different powders cursors (a) zinc chloride, (b) zinc nitrate and (c) zinc acetate respectively.
were heated at 350 ◦ C for 1 h.
For studying the sensing characteristics, a home built apparatus
was used which consists of a potentiometric arrangement, a test
chamber of 40 L volume in which a sample holder, a small tem-
perature controlled oven, humidity meter and a mixing fan were
 O. Singh et al. / Sensors and Actuators B 178 (2013) 149–154 151

Fig. 3. EDX spectra of zinc oxide powder synthesized from precursors (a) zinc chloride, (b) zinc nitrate and (c) zinc acetate.

installed. The fabricated sensor was placed in the test chamber oven Table 1
Elemental analysis from EDX.
at desirable temperature and known quantity of gas species was
injected into the test chamber. Variation of voltage signal across Element Zinc oxide powder synthesized from
10 k resistance connected in series with sensor was recorded
Zinc chloride Zinc nitrate Zinc acetate
with Keithley KUSB-3100 and computer. The voltage applied across
sensor and series resistance was fixed at 5 V. The sensor response Weight% Atomic% Weight% Atomic% Weight% Atomic%

magnitude was determined as Ra /Rg ratio, where Ra and Rg are the OK 17.44 46.33 16.58 44.81 17.73 46.82
resistances of sensor in air ambience and air–gas mixture respec- Zn K 82.56 53.67 83.42 55.19 82.27 53.18
Totals 100.00 100.00 100.00
tively. All the sensors were tested following same procedure by
varying temperature from 250 to 450 ◦ C. Schematic of gas sensor
and gas testing unit is given elsewhere [26,27].
different morphologies. In Fig. 2(a): nanorods with tapered ends;
in Fig. 2(b): short length (∼400–800 nm) rods having hexagonal
3. Results and discussion prism geometry and in Fig. 2(c): long length (∼0.8–2.3 ␮m) rods
having hexagonal prisms geometry can be seen. In Fig. 2(c) there is
3.1. Material characterization a growth of particle like structures on the surface of rods as well.
One dimensional nanostructure is formed due to anisotropic
3.1.1. X-ray diffraction crystal growth, i.e. a crystal grows along a certain crystallographic
Fig. 1 represents the X-ray diffraction pattern of materials syn- axis faster than that along other axes. The driving force for the for-
thesized using different precursors. The peaks visible in the graphs mation of one dimensional nanostructure by spontaneous growth
are in well agreement with standard available data and these is the decrease in Gibbs free energy, which arises from either recrys-
depict the wurtzite hexagonal structure of nanosized zinc oxide. tallization or a decrease in supersaturation [29].
The lattice parameters ‘a’ and ‘c’ for hexagonal phase of ZnO were The different morphologies of zinc oxide obtained are because
calculated by using combination of Bragg’s law and plane spacing of growth rate difference pertaining to different crystallographic
equation [28]. planes and the crystal growth rate depends on the nature of the
2 precursor used. The acidic strength of the zinc oxide precursors
sin2  = (1) used in the present study, which affects the crystal growth rate,
4[4(h2 + hk + k2 )/3a2 + l2 /c 2 ]
is in the following manner: chloride > nitrate > acetate. Zinc chlo-
The calculated values of (a, c) for zinc oxide prepared from zinc ride, being the most acidic among three precursors used, induced
chloride, zinc nitrate and zinc acetate in angstrom are (3.25, 5.20), chemical etching of the polar surfaces of zinc oxide, and as a result
(3.24, 5.20) and (3.24, 5.19) respectively. The calculated values of rods with tapered ends were obtained. Furthermore zinc acetate
‘a’ and ‘c’ are in close agreement with the standard values. Absence being lesser acidic than zinc nitrate, resulted in a morphology with
of extra peaks indicates the purity of the prepared samples. flat end hexagonal prisms possessing longer length as compared to
the hexagonal prisms produced by zinc nitrate. Fig. 3 represents the
3.1.2. Field emission scanning electron microscopy EDX spectra of powders prepared from different precursors. Table 1
Fig. 2(a–c) represents the FESEM images of the nanostructured shows the weight percentage and atomic percentage of Zn and O in
ZnO powders synthesized using precursors namely zinc chloride, powders prepared from different precursors and relative amounts
zinc nitrate and zinc acetate respectively. From these images it is of zinc and oxygen are same irrespective of the precursor used. It is
clear that samples prepared from different precursors have yielded clear from the Fig. 3 and Table 1 that samples prepared from all the
152 O. Singh et al. / Sensors and Actuators B 178 (2013) 149–154

21.0
9.0 a 19.5 a
b b
18.0
7.5 c c
16.5
Methanol Sensing Response

Propanol Sensing Response

15.0
6.0 13.5
12.0
10.5
4.5
9.0
7.5
3.0
6.0
4.5
1.5 3.0
1.5

0.0 0.0
250 300 350 400 450 250 300 350 400 450
o
o
Temperature ( C) Temperature ( C)

Fig. 4. Sensing response towards 250 ppm of methanol for the samples prepared Fig. 6. Sensing response towards 250 ppm of propanol for the samples prepared
from (a) zinc chloride, (b) zinc nitrate and (c) zinc acetate at different operating from (a) zinc chloride, (b) zinc nitrate and (c) zinc acetate at different operating
temperatures. temperatures.

three precursors contain only Zn and O ions, which confirms that response decreases because the amount of adsorbed oxygen avail-
there are no impurities in the synthesized powder. able at sensing site on the sensor surface reduces to react with gas
molecules leading to small change in conductance. All the sensors
3.2. Sensing performance in air at 400 ◦ C have resistances in the mega ohm range (0.1–1 M).
Response and recovery time comparison of VOCs (volatile
In order to investigate the effect of precursor assisted morphol- organic compounds) for all the sensors based on samples is shown
ogy on the sensing property, sensor fabricated from powder having in Fig. 7. It is evident from figure that the response and recovery of
different morphologies were exposed to 250 ppm of methanol, the fabricated sensors are very fast. In addition it is also clear from
ethanol and propanol at different operating temperatures. Figs. 4–6 this figure that sensing response for the ZnO morphology prepared
revealed that, the optimum temperature for all the sensors remains from zinc acetate precursor is exceptionally higher for all VOCs.
invariant at 400 ◦ C. Gas species to be detected requires certain Under similar conditions, the sensing response magnitude of
amount of thermal energy to cross the potential barrier and com- samples synthesized from different precursors varies in the fol-
bine with the adsorbed oxygen. At optimum operable temperature, lowing order: zinc acetate > zinc nitrate > zinc chloride. The reason
maximum number of gas molecules possesses required energy for increase in the sensing response values may be ascribed to
and react with adsorbed oxygen resulting in a large change in the surface area of the material which depends upon the surface
the conductance of sensing element. Above 400 ◦ C the sensor morphology. Greater the surface area of the materials, stronger

16.5 20

15.0 a Methanol
18
b Ethanol
13.5 c 16 Propanol
Ethanol Sensing Response

12.0
14
Sensing Response

10.5
12
9.0
10
7.5
8
6.0

4.5 6

3.0 4

1.5 2
(a) (b) (c)
0.0 0
250 300 350 400 450 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300
o
Temperature ( C) Time (s)

Fig. 5. Sensing response towards 250 ppm of ethanol for the samples prepared Fig. 7. Sensing Response of the samples synthesized from (a) zinc chloride, (b) zinc
from (a) zinc chloride, (b) zinc nitrate and (c) zinc acetate at different operating nitrate and (c) zinc acetate to 250 ppm of different VOCs at optimum operating
temperatures. temperature of 400 ◦ C.
 O. Singh et al. / Sensors and Actuators B 178 (2013) 149–154 153

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[30] J.F. Chang, H.H. Kuo, I.C. Leu, M.H. Hon, The effects of thickness and operation Nipin Kohli received her M.Sc. physics degree from Guru Nanak Dev University,
temperature on ZnO:Al thin film CO gas sensor, Sensors and Actuators B 84 Amritsar, India in 2005. Presently she is pursuing for Ph.D. in the field of nanostruc-
(2002) 258–264. tured materials and their application as gas sensors at Guru Nanak Dev University,
[31] Z. Jie, H. Li-Hua, G. Shan, Z. Hui, Z.J. Gui, Alcohols and acetone sensing properties India.
of SnO2 thin films deposited by dip-coating, Sensors and Actuators B 115 (2006)
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[32] H. Gong, Y.J. Wang, S.C. Teo, L. Huang, Interaction between thin-film tin oxide Ravi Chand Singh received his Ph.D. in physics from Guru Nanak Dev University,
gas sensor and five organic vapors, Sensors and Actuators B 54 (1999) 232–235. Amritsar, India in 1989. Since then he has had an appointment at the same institute
for one year, and moved to post-doctoral position at Simon Fraser University,
Canada in 1990. He moved to Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar in 1993,
Biographies
where he is presently working as a professor of physics. His recent interests are
material research for gas sensing and development of new experiments for physics
education.
Onkar Singh received his M.Sc. physics degree from Guru Nanak Dev University,
Amritsar, India in 2006. Presently he is pursuing for Ph.D. in the field of nano sized
metal oxide materials and gas sensors at the same institute.