Large scale synthesis of hexagonal simonkolleit nanosheets for ZnO gas sensors with enhanced performances

Hexagonal simonkolleite· (Zn5(OH)8Cl2·H2O) nanosheets were synthesized via a one-pot hydrothermal method. The precursors can be converted to porous ZnO nanosheets consisting of nanoparticles by annealing at higher temperature, and the final ZnO products can inherit the hexagonal shapes of the precursors. The gas sensing properties of the precursors and ZnO nanosheets were also studied systematically. It was found that the annealing temperature can dramatically affect the gas sensing performances of the devices for the tunable microstructures and compositions of the materials. After annealed at 500 °C, the ZnO nanosheets exhibit excellent sensing performances to ethanol of 100 ppm.