| Abstract: | ZnO/α‐Fe2O3 nanocomposites were fabricated through a two‐step hydrothermal method. The morphology and composition of the as‐synthesized products were characterized by X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The gas sensing properties of the fabricated products were investigated towards ethanol, acetone, propanol, isopropanol, formaldehyde, chloroform and so on. The results demonstrated that the ZnO/α‐Fe2O3 nanocomposites exhibited excellent sensing properties and showed remarkably higher sensing responses and much lower optimum operating temperature compared to individual ZnO and α‐Fe2O3. In addition, the ZnO/α‐Fe2O3 nanocomposites have some selectivity for ethanol, propanol and isopropanol. The possible gas sensing mechanism was also proposed. Our studies demonstrate that our fabricated materials could be widely used in the future. |
