Zinc oxide nanowires on carbon microfiber as flexible gas sensor

In the past years, zinc oxide nanowires (ZnO NWs) have been proven to be an excellent material for gas sensors. In this work, we used ZnO nanowires in a novel architecture integrated on a carbon microfiber (μC) textile. This innovative design permits us to obtain mechanical flexibility, while the absence of any lithographic technique allows a large-area and low-cost fabrication of gas sensors. The performances of the devices are investigated for both oxidizing and reducing gases. The nano-on-micro structure of the sensor provides a high surface-to-volume ratio, leading to a fast and intense response for both oxygen (O2) and hydrogen (H2) gases. The sensor response has an optimum temperature condition at 280 °C with a response value of 10 for oxygen and 11 for hydrogen. The limit of detection (LoD) has been found to be 2 and 4 ppm for oxygen and hydrogen, respectively. Additionally, the sensor response and recovery time is small being less than 10 s for both O2 and H2.

Research Highlights
► We investigate zinc oxide nanowires on carbon microfibers.
► Nano-on-micro structure increases surface/volume ratio.
► Electrodeposition of zinc and its thermal oxidation to grow nanowires.
► Fast response and recovery times both to O2 and H2.