Synthesis and Application of Ag2O Doped ZnO Based Sensor for Detecting CH4 Gas

In this study, highly sensitive Ag
₂
O-doped ZnO nanorods based sensor was presented and developed to detect CH
₄
gas, an extremely significant fault characteristic gas extracted from power transformer oil. Ag
₂
O-doped ZnO nanorods sensing materials were synthesized with facile hydrothermal method, and characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. Side heated chemical gas sensor was fabricated and its sensing performances towards CH
₄
were systematically investigated. The optimal operating temperature of the Ag
₂
O-doped ZnO sensor was 280 °C for CH
₄
sensing, and its gas sensing response to 10 ppm CH
₄
was measured to be as high as 12.28. In addition, good linearity for low concentration of CH
₄
gas was also obtained. The corresponding response-recovery time of the Ag
₂
O-doped ZnO sensor was measured to be about 17-10s. All results provide reference and guidance for developing high-performance ZnO based gas sensors for CH
₄
detection. All these excellent sensors performances indicate the large potential of the fabricated Ag
₂
O decorated ZnO nanorods sensor for practical application of CH
₄
detection.