Enhancement of selective NO2 gas sensing via Xenon ion irradiation of ZnO nanoparticles

Thanks to their impact on gas sensing enhancement, irradiation techniques are being progressively employed in gas-sensing applications. Effects of Xe irradiation doses on the NO2-sensing features of ZnO nanoparticle (NP) was investigated in this study. In this regard, ZnO NPs were irradiated with Xe ions at doses of 1 × 1014, 1 × 1015, and 1 × 1016 ions/cm2. The NO2 gas response of irradiated ZnO NPs was superior to that of the pristine one at the optimized sensing temperature of 200 ℃. Furthermore, irradiation with a dose of 1 × 1015 ions/cm2 brought about the highest response to NO2 gas, with a response of approximately 88.5 toward 10 ppm-NO2. Additionally, the optimized sensor exhibited outstanding NO2 gas selectivity. The presence of high amounts of oxygen vacancies owing to irradiation at the optimized dosage mainly resulted in the high response. This study can be used as guidelines to conduct similar studies on other materials to enhance their gas-sensing characteristics.