Development of Eco-Friendly TiO2 Doped ZnO Nanorods Based Dual Functional Sensor for the Sewage System Monitoring

Abstract

Pertaining to the drainage of urban runoff and the expulsion of sewage, sewer systems are a vital component of urban engineering. Owing to this, a dual functional sensor to detect the toxic gases and pipeline leakages was developed with TiO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> doped (1, 3 and 5Wt. %) ZnO nanorods using a wet chemical approach. The morphological and structural analysis depicts the formation of nanorods morphology and characteristic ZnO hexagonal wurtzite structure (dominant (002) peak plane) despite doping. A decrease in bandgap (optical analysis −3.03 eV) and internal resistance (Nyquist plot–74 Ω) was observed when doped with 5Wt.% of TiO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> . A distinguishing p-n junction curve was observed in all the doped samples during the photoconductivity (J-V) study. A systematic experimental exploratory of the developed sensors at room temperature unfolds the improved dual functional property of the developed sensors when exposed to target gases (10 ppm) (CH <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">4</sub> –0.60 and CO–0.64) and acceleration (2.45 V at 1 g).