Effect of doping concentration on structural, vibrational, morphological and colloidal stability of Zn doped NiO nanoparticles for gas sensor applications

Abstract

In the current work, an investigation of the influence of Zn ion doping on the structural, vibrational, colloidal stability, and morphological features of NiO nanoparticles was carried out. XRD was used to record the change in crystal properties with respect to doping concentration, which confirmed that the crystallite size decreases as the doping concentration rises. SEM was used to investigate the extreme morphology of each and every sample, and it was found that there was a predictable shift in both size and morphology as a result of the varying doping doses. Images taken with a TEM microscope show that the produced samples have a spherical form. The particle distribution curve, also known as a histogram, provides evidence that the predicted crystallite size and the average particle size are very close to being identical. The gas sensor behavior of Zn-doped NiO nanoparticles is performed under various sensor parameters, which confirms the higher sensor response of 15% Zn-doped NiO nanoparticles with the impact of fewer particles size. The response-recovery time confirms that the prepared metal oxide nanoparticles are suitable materials for the CO2 gas sensor.