Acetone vapor sensing characteristics of Cr-doped ZnO nanofibers

Abstract

Various amounts of chromium (Cr) were added to zinc oxide (ZnO) nanofibers (NFs) by electrospinning (ES), and pyrolysis was performed at 600 °C to form pure and Cr-doped ZnO NFs. The morphology, structure and optical properties of the NFs were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). It was found that the structure of the NFs became rougher, and the diameter decreased with the increase of the Cr content. The maximum diameter of 150 nm was observed for 4 w% Cr-doped ZnO NFs. The bandgap energy decreased as the doping concentration increased. The gas-sensing properties of the Cr-doped ZnO NFs were investigated by measuring their response to acetone vapor. The results indicate that among all the samples, the 4 w% Cr-doped ZnO NFs exhibited the best sensing response to acetone vapor, with a response of 88.65–50 ppm acetone vapor. The response and recovery times were approximately 80 s and 55 s, respectively. Further, the Cr-doped electrospun NFs showed exceptional selectivity and stability, indicating their potential for high-performance gas sensor fabrication. This work reports an intriguing cost-effective lab designed gas sensor to investigate the sensing properties of pure and Cr-doped ZnO NFs.

Keywords:

• Zinc oxide
• electrospinning
• response
• acetone
• chromium
• bandgap

REVIEWING EDITOR:

• Ian Phillip Jones, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

SUBJECTS:

• Mechanical Engineering Design
• Manufacturing Engineering
• Materials Science
• Nanoscience & Nanotechnology

Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully acknowledge support provided by the Manipal Academy of Higher Education.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

CRediT author statement

Vishwas Rajesh: Literature survey and original draft preparation. Niranjan N. Prabhu: Literature survey, editing and reviewing. Basavanna Shivamurthy: Conceptualization, supervision and administration.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Vishwas Rajesh

Mr. Vishwas Rajesh is a student of Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal perusing his B.Tech degree in the field of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering. He has done a project based on electrospinning and his main interest is focused on Automotive Engineering field.

Niranjan N. Prabhu

Mr. Niranjan N Prabhu is a research scholar in the department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering at Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal. He received his B.E degree in Mechanical Engineering in the year 2013, and MTech in Design Engineering in the year 2016. He has worked as an Automotive Design Engineer from 2017 to 2020 in Pune. His research interests include electrospinning, and gas sensors.

Basavanna Shivamurthy

Dr. B Shivamurthy, received the B.E. degree in mechanical engineering from Mysore University, India, in 1991, M. Sc. Engineering by research degree in mechanical engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi, India in 2008. He obtained Ph. D in Metallurgical & Materials Engineering from National Institute of Technology Karnataka in 2014. He is currently working as Professor at Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India. From 1991 to 2001, he was worked with the polymer engineering Industries in production, R&D in various sectors such as polyester films, thermoset & thermoplastic composites for various applications. He also executed selection and installation of plant and machinery for the same. Further 2001 till date he is working as an Engineering faculty and researcher in India. He also worked as program coordinator at Manipal School of Engineering and IT at Dubai. His research interest includes polymer composites, Nano hybrid composites for electronics, biomedical, and engineering sectors. Dr. B. Shivamurthy published research articles in the field of electronic materials, wear-resistant polymers, structure properties of various Nano hybrid polymer composites, fire retardant materials, EMI Shielding, and impact-resistant materials.