Enhancement of hydrogen sensing response of ZnO nanowires for the decoration of WO3 nanoparticles.

Highlights • ZnO NW and WO 3 NP are synthesized VLS and hydrothermal method, respectively. • WO 3 nanoparticle are decorated on ZnO nanowire surface to fabricate high sensitive H 2 sensor. • H 2 sensing responses of WO 3 -ZnO NW is improved compared with ZnO NW. • Expansion of depletion layers of WO 3 -ZnO NW makes sensing responses improved. Abstract WO 3 nanoparticle-decorated ZnO nanowires are synthesized by the hydrothermal and vapor-liquid solid (VLS) methods, respectively. WO 3 nanoparticles are decorated on the surface of ZnO nanowires to fabricate the highly sensitive hydrogen gas sensor. This structured sensor presents a sensing response that is 4.3 times higher than its counterpart for 2000 ppm hydrogen gas. The variation in depletion layer width of the ZnO nanowires increases as the WO 3 nanoparticles are decorated. This improves the sensing response of the WO 3 nanoparticle-decorated ZnO nanowire sensor compared with its counterpart. In this research, a synthetic method of WO 3 nanoparticle-decorated ZnO nanowires is described, and its physical and chemical properties are analyzed. Moreover, the sensing responses are measured, and the sensing mechanism is discussed in this literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]