Enhanced triethylamine sensing performance of Co-doped ZnO nanorods prepared using a solvothermal method

Triethylamine(TEA) exhibits a potent irritant effect on human skin, mucous membranes, the nervous system and prolonged exposure may result in severe pulmonary edema and potentially fatal outcomes, but the current detection methods are time-consuming and laborious, so we need to develop a convenient and cheap detection method for TEA. Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) represented by ZnO constitutes a class of admirable chemiresistive gas-sensing. However, optimizing the gas selectivity, enhancing sensitivity and response speed of ZnO are the key to the practical applications. Heterogeneous ion doping is a feasible strategy to improve the gas sensitive properties of ZnO, which can be improved by adjusting the band gap width and oxygen vacancy concentration. Herein, Co-doped ZnO nanorods were prepared by solvothermal method. It is demonstrated that the significant improvement of the gas-sensing properties of Co-ZnO, making a significant contribution to the application of chemiresistive MOS in the gas sensing field. The response of 0.7 ​% Co-ZnO to 100 ​ppm TEA at 270 ​°C is 63, which is almost 7 times that of pure ZnO. Additionally, the response and recovery times of 0.7 ​% Co-ZnO are 3 ​s and 165 ​s, respectively, compared to 5 ​s and 226 ​s for pure ZnO. Finally, a possible reason for the enhanced gas-sensitive properties of Co-doped ZnO nanorods is proposed.