Abstract
Well-crystalline one-dimensional ZnO-Zn2GeO4 (ZGO) heterostructures were successfully synthesized using a high-temperature solid-state reaction between the ZnO and Ge layers of ZnO-Ge core-shell nanostructures. The polycrystalline ZGO crystallites had a thickness in the range of 17 to 26 nm. The high-temperature solid-state reaction induced grooves and crystal defects on the surfaces of the ZGO crystallites. The sensors made from the ZnO-ZGO heterostructures exhibited a marked photocurrent response to UV light at room temperature and a gas sensing response to acetone gas at 325°C. The observed sensing properties are attributed to the rugged surface of the ZGO heterointerfaces between ZnO and ZGO, surface crystal defects of ZGO, and cross-linked contact regions of ZnO-ZGO.
Highlights
Binary wide-bandgap oxides are promising materials for optoelectronic, catalyst, and sensor applications [1,2]
This indicated that a solid-state reaction between the ZnO core and Ge shell materials occurred at such a high annealing temperature [12,18]
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrum indicated multiple crystallographic orientations of the ZnO crystals, which is consistent with the randomly cross-linked ZnO morphology observed in the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrograph
Summary
Binary wide-bandgap oxides are promising materials for optoelectronic, catalyst, and sensor applications [1,2]. To satisfy the different requirements of device applications, binary oxides doped with various dopants were studied to improve the intrinsic characteristics and increase the functionality of the oxides [3,4,5]. Research on an oxide heterostructure consisting of a ternary oxide is still lacking. A high-temperature solid-state reaction is a feasible methodology to form a ternary oxide by using constituent binary oxides [11,12]. In addition to photocatalytic applications, research on structure-dependent sensing characteristics of a single 1D ZGO or ZnO-ZGO heterostructure has been limited [17]. A 1D ZnO-ZGO heterostructure was synthesized using a hightemperature solid-state reaction of ZnO-Ge core-shell nanostructures. The correlation between the structural properties and potential application of such structures in UV photodetectors and gas sensors was investigated
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