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Journal of Advanced Ceramics 2024, 13(4): 507-517 https://doi.org/10.26599/JAC.2024.9220873
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 30 April 2024

Urchin-like Na-doped zinc oxide nanoneedles for low-concentration and exclusive VOC detections

Show Author's Information Yiwen Zhou1,  Yifan Luo1,2,  Zichen Zheng1,  Kewei Liu1,2,  Xiaoxi He1,  Kaidi Wu1,  Marc Debliquy2,  Chao Zhang1( )
College of Mechanical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China
Material Science Department, University of Mons, Mons 7000, Belgium
Keywords:
lung cancer, gas sensor, citric acid, zinc oxide (ZnO), heterovalent ions doping, volatile organic compound (VOC) detection
Cite this article:
Zhou Y, Luo Y, Zheng Z, et al. Urchin-like Na-doped zinc oxide nanoneedles for low-concentration and exclusive VOC detections. Journal of Advanced Ceramics, 2024, 13(4): 507-517. https://doi.org/10.26599/JAC.2024.9220873
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

In the early-stage diagnosis of lung cancer, the low-concentration (< 5 ppm) volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are extensively identified to be the biomarkers for breath analysis. Herein, the urchin-like sodium (Na)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoneedles were synthesized through a hydrothermal strategy with the addition of different contents of citric acid. The Na-doped ZnO gas sensor with a 3 : 1 molar ratio of Na+ and citric acid showed outstanding sensing properties with an optimal selectivity to various VOCs (formaldehyde (HCOH), isopropanol, acetone, and ammonia) based on working temperature regulation. Specifically, significantly enhanced sensitivity (21.3@5 ppm) compared with pristine ZnO (~7-fold), low limit of detection (LOD) (298 ppb), robust humidity resistance, and long-term stability of formaldehyde sensing performances were obtained, which can be attributed to the formation of a higher concentration of oxygen vacancies (20.98%) and the active electron transitions. Furthermore, the improved sensing mechanism was demonstrated by the exquisite band structure and introduction of the additional acceptor level, which resulted in the narrowed bandgap of ZnO.


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About this article

Urchin-like Na-doped zinc oxide nanoneedles for low-concentration and exclusive VOC detections

Show Author's information Yiwen Zhou1, Yifan Luo1,2, Zichen Zheng1, Kewei Liu1,2, Xiaoxi He1, Kaidi Wu1, Marc Debliquy2, Chao Zhang1( )
College of Mechanical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225127, China
Material Science Department, University of Mons, Mons 7000, Belgium

Abstract

In the early-stage diagnosis of lung cancer, the low-concentration (< 5 ppm) volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are extensively identified to be the biomarkers for breath analysis. Herein, the urchin-like sodium (Na)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoneedles were synthesized through a hydrothermal strategy with the addition of different contents of citric acid. The Na-doped ZnO gas sensor with a 3 : 1 molar ratio of Na+ and citric acid showed outstanding sensing properties with an optimal selectivity to various VOCs (formaldehyde (HCOH), isopropanol, acetone, and ammonia) based on working temperature regulation. Specifically, significantly enhanced sensitivity (21.3@5 ppm) compared with pristine ZnO (~7-fold), low limit of detection (LOD) (298 ppb), robust humidity resistance, and long-term stability of formaldehyde sensing performances were obtained, which can be attributed to the formation of a higher concentration of oxygen vacancies (20.98%) and the active electron transitions. Furthermore, the improved sensing mechanism was demonstrated by the exquisite band structure and introduction of the additional acceptor level, which resulted in the narrowed bandgap of ZnO.

Keywords: lung cancer, gas sensor, citric acid, zinc oxide (ZnO), heterovalent ions doping, volatile organic compound (VOC) detection

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Publication history

Received: 24 November 2023
Revised: 21 February 2024
Accepted: 03 March 2024
Published: 30 April 2024
Issue date: April 2024

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© The Author(s) 2024.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Outstanding Youth Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (No. BK20211548), the Yangzhou Science and Technology Plan Project (No. YZ2023246), the Qinglan Project of Yangzhou University, and the Research Innovation Plan of Graduate Education Innovation Project in Jiangsu Province (No. KYCX23_3530).

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This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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