Full Length ArticleUltra thin NiO nanosheets for high performance hydrogen gas sensor device
Graphical abstract
Introduction
On the verge of vanishing fossil fuels, hydrogen gas is one of the promising renewable energy sources because of its supreme properties such as zero-emission, easy production, and renewability [1], [2]. Hydrogen molecule having lower density ~0.09 g/L and very small size of the order ~0.289 nm which enable easy risk of leakage [3]. The basic characteristics of hydrogen gas include colourless, odorless and not detectable by human nose, this makes potential threats of fire accident above 4 vol% [4]. In order to avoid such hydrogen gas fire accident during its production, storage, and transportation, there is immediate requirement of the highly sensitive gas sensor working at lower temperatures [5].
Nanomaterials play vital role in various applications such as supercapactors, catalysis and gas sensors [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]. Resistive gas sensors using semiconducting metal oxide nanostructures such as SnO2, ZnO, CuO, CdO, WO3, TiO2, and NiO have been reported over the years owing to advantages viz small dimension, cost-effective, simple operation and electronic processing with good compatibility [5], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19]. Among these semiconducting sensing materials, p-type (NiO) sensors are relatively less ~9.41% focused [20]. The remarkable properties NiO such as high electrical conductivity, wide bandgap, non-toxicity, reproducibility, great sensitivity, and chemical stability made it the potential sensor material [21]. The ultra thin nanosheets are a two-dimensional nanostructure that provides high surface area as well as number of active sites for gas adsorption along with continuous charge transportation [22]. There are several synthesis routes reported for NiO nanostructures formation such as co-precipitation [23], sol-gel [24], atomic layer deposition [25], hydrothermal [26], microwave-assisted [27]. However, hydrothermal chemical route has good control to obtain various high-quality nanostructures [28], [29], [30]. Various NiO morphologies have been reported in gas sensing applications viz nanowires (NWs), nanoparticles (NPs), nanoflower (NF), nanorods (NRs), nanotubes (NTs), [31], [32], [33], [34], [35]. however ultra thin nanosheets 2-D structure of NiO has not been studied for high-performance hydrogen sensing application according to our best of the information.
In the present research findings, surfactant-free NiO nanosheets structures were synthesized using the versatile hydrothermal chemical route, further characterization performed using sophisticated instruments techniques such as XRD, FESEM, EDS, TEM, UV–Visible spectroscopy, and XPS. Structural parameters of NiO nanosheets material (i.e. average crystallite size (D), inter-planar distance (d), dislocation density (δ), texture coefficient (TC), micro-strain (ε), and stacking fault (SF)) were estimated by XRD analysis. Resistance variation of NiO nanosheets sensor as a function of applied temperature and stabilization curve was recorded. The gas response of NiO nanosheets sensor was studied at different operating temperatures as well as gas concentrations. The transient sensor response for H2 gas sensing and selectivity was tested and analyzed. The schematics for sensing mechanism is presented and stability of NiO sensor is also confirmed.
Section snippets
Experimental
The NiO nanosheets were synthesized using the easy hydrothermal chemical route. A 0.6 mM Nickel nitrate solution and 1.8 mM sodium hydroxide solution were prepared using 60 mL de-ionized (D.I.) separately. These two solutions were mixed dropwise and left for magnetic stirring (30 min) at 600 rpm. This prepared solution was poured into Teflon lined autoclave and provided heat at a temperature of 200 °C up to 10 h. The obtained precipitate was washed using D.I. water several times. The collected
Structural properties
The pattern of X-Ray diffraction for the sensor material is presented in Fig. 1(a). It is confirmed from JCPDS card no. 047-1049 matching that sensor material formed the face-centered cubic (FCC) structure of NiO [37]. The structural properties of the sensor material such as crystal size, dislocation densities, and texture coefficient have a remarkable influence on the gas sensing properties of semiconducting metal oxide sensors [38], [39], [40], [34]. Hence detailed investigation of the
Conclusions
In summary, a surfactant-free synthesis of 2-D unstacked NiO nanosheets structures was carried out using via chemical hydrothermal method. The structural parameters investigation of NiO particles was performed in details and corresponding analysis carried out using XRD technique. Nanosheets like structures without agglomeration were revealed from FESEM and TEM images. The electrical properties of NiO material recorded to study semiconducting nature. The high gas response and selectivity were
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declared that there is no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
The present research work was financially supported by National Leading Research Laboratory Program via the National Research Foundation (NRF-2016R1A2B2016665) of Korea funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.
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