Abstract

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is one of the most important metal oxides having various applications in gas sensors. In the present work, ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized via sol-gel method. The nanopowder was then hydraulic-pressed and pre-sintered at 400°C to be molded into tablets with radius of 13 mm and thickness of 1.4 mm. Then, the sensor characteristics of ZnO nanopowder tablets were evaluated with respect to the ethanol. Finally, the tablets were doped with iron (Fe) and copper (Cu), and the effect of doping on sensing properties was studied.

Key words: Zinc oxide, sensitivity, ethanol, sol-gel, dopants.