Improving the ethanol gas-sensing properties of porous ZnO microspheres by Co doping

•Co-doped porous ZnO microspheres were synthesized.•3 mol% Co-doped ZnO sensor showed the highest response to ethanol.•3 mol% Co-doped ZnO sensor exhibited fast recovery property.•3 mol% Co-doped ZnO sensor exhibited good selectivity and long-term stability.

Porous Co-doped ZnO microspheres were prepared by a simple hydrothermal method combined with post-annealing. Co species existed as a form of divalent state in the sample and substituted Zn2+ sites in ZnO crystal lattice, which was affirmed by X-ray diffraction, UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The gas-sensing measurements demonstrated that the 3 mol% Co-doped ZnO sample showed the highest response value to 100 ppm ethanol at 350 °C, which were 5 folds higher than that of the pure ZnO sample. In addition, the 3 mol% Co-doped ZnO sensor exhibited fast recovery property, good quantitative determination, good selectivity and long-term stability. The superior sensing properties were contributed to high specific surface area combined with the large amount of oxygen vacancies originating from Co doping.

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