Preparation and Ethanol Sensing Properties of ZnO Nanofibers

ZnO nanofibers with an average diameter of about 90 nm were prepared by an electrospinning method combined with a calcination process. The as-electrospun nanofibers before and after calcination were characterized by means of differential thermal analysis(DTA), thermal gravimetric analysis(TGA), X-ray diffraction(XRD) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM). The fibers after calcination at 600 °C belong to the hexagonal wurtzite structure. The sensor based on ZnO nanofibers exhibited excellent ethanol sensing properties at 206 °C such as good linear dependence in the low concentration(1―100 μL/L), high response, and good selectivity. Fast response(less than 2 s) and recovery(about 16 s) were also observed in our investigations.