Enhanced gas sensing properties of multiple networked In2O3-core/ZnO-shell nanorod sensors

The influence of the encapsulation of In2O3 nanorods with ZnO on the H2S gas sensing properties was studied. In2O3-core/ZnO-shell nanorods were fabricated by a two step process comprising the thermal evaporation of an 1:1 mixture of In2O3 and graphite powders and the atomic layer deposition of ZnO. The core-shell nanorods ranged from 100 to 200 nm in diameter and were up to a few hundreds of micrometers in length. The thickness of the ZnO shell layer in the core-shell nanorod ranged from 5 to 10 nm. Multiple networked In2O3-core/ZnO-shell nanorod sensors showed the response of more or less 4 times higher than bare In2O3 nanorod sensors to H2S in a concentration range of 10-100 ppm at 300 degrees C. The substantial improvement in the response of In2O3 nanorods to H2S gas by the encapsulation with ZnO can be accounted for based on the space-charge model. Besides the enhanced sensor response, both the response and recovery times of the core-shell nanorods were shorter than those of the bare-In2O3 nanorods for any H2S concentration, respectively.