{"title":"Highly sensitive and selective ammonia (NH3) sensing by annealed pulse laser deposited (PLD) - ZnO thin films","authors":"Rohit Kumar , Puja Ghosh , Anurag Gupta , C.S. Prajapati","doi":"10.1016/j.jallcom.2025.181623","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This work reports highly sensitive and selective ammonia (NH<sub>3</sub>) gas sensor development with a detection limit 5.2 ppm achieved by PLD-deposited ZnO thin film, annealed at 450 °C. At this annealing temperature, ZnO film exhibited a very high sensing response of 89 % on exposure to lowest NH<sub>3</sub> concentration at 300 °C operating temperature. Moreover, a fast response time of 60 s and a recovery time of 65 s are recorded. Comparatively, the sensor response is 9 times higher (89 %) than the response obtained by unannealed ZnO thin film (10 %) for the same gas concentration. Additionally, the optimized film exhibits excellent selective detection towards NH<sub>3</sub> gas as compared to other interfering gases (CO, H<sub>2</sub>, CO<sub>2</sub>, O<sub>2</sub>, NO<sub>2</sub>, C<sub>3</sub>H<sub>6</sub>O, C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>2</sub>, and CH<sub>4</sub>). Also, the sensor’s repeatability is examined over a multiple number of gas exposure cycles, and good stability is achieved. The physical properties of PLD-deposited ZnO films are systemically explored by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Field emission scanning electron microscope ( FESEM), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques, and electrical I-V measurement. The conducive performances of ZnO thin film annealed at 450 °C indicate a strong candidate for the detection of NH<sub>3</sub> gas. Based on ultra-low detection limit and quantification ability under mixed gases exposure, annealed ZnO film exhibits a promising candidate for real-time exhaled breath NH<sub>3</sub> monitoring for the identification of disease biomarkers like liver and kidney diagnosis application.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":344,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Alloys and Compounds","volume":"1036 ","pages":"Article 181623"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Alloys and Compounds","FirstCategoryId":"88","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925838825031846","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This work reports highly sensitive and selective ammonia (NH3) gas sensor development with a detection limit 5.2 ppm achieved by PLD-deposited ZnO thin film, annealed at 450 °C. At this annealing temperature, ZnO film exhibited a very high sensing response of 89 % on exposure to lowest NH3 concentration at 300 °C operating temperature. Moreover, a fast response time of 60 s and a recovery time of 65 s are recorded. Comparatively, the sensor response is 9 times higher (89 %) than the response obtained by unannealed ZnO thin film (10 %) for the same gas concentration. Additionally, the optimized film exhibits excellent selective detection towards NH3 gas as compared to other interfering gases (CO, H2, CO2, O2, NO2, C3H6O, C2H2, and CH4). Also, the sensor’s repeatability is examined over a multiple number of gas exposure cycles, and good stability is achieved. The physical properties of PLD-deposited ZnO films are systemically explored by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Field emission scanning electron microscope ( FESEM), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques, and electrical I-V measurement. The conducive performances of ZnO thin film annealed at 450 °C indicate a strong candidate for the detection of NH3 gas. Based on ultra-low detection limit and quantification ability under mixed gases exposure, annealed ZnO film exhibits a promising candidate for real-time exhaled breath NH3 monitoring for the identification of disease biomarkers like liver and kidney diagnosis application.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Alloys and Compounds is intended to serve as an international medium for the publication of work on solid materials comprising compounds as well as alloys. Its great strength lies in the diversity of discipline which it encompasses, drawing together results from materials science, solid-state chemistry and physics.