Synthesis of ZnO nanorods and its application in NO2 sensors

One-dimensional (1D) ZnO nanorods with pencil-like shape and high aspect ratio were successfully synthesized using a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-assisted hydrothermal process at 90 °C. The surface morphology and structure of nanocrystals were characterized by FE-SEM, XRD and XPS analysis. Experimental results show that the surfactant and base concentration play important roles in the formation and growth orientation of ZnO nanorods. The ZnO nanorods synthesized exhibits high response and selectivity to NO2, the highest response to 40 ppm NO2 reached 206 and the selectivity with respect to CO and CH4 at same concentration reached 10.3 and 30 times, respectively. The effects of synthesis method, surfactant and calcination condition on sensing properties were systematically investigated. The results indicate that the CTAB-assisted low temperature hydrothermal process is a potentially facile method for synthesis of 1D ZnO nanorods and excellent potential candidates as gas sensing materials.