Hierarchical ZnO micro/nanoarchitectures: hydrothermal preparation, characterization and application in the detection of hydrazine

Abstract

In the present work, we report the successful preparation of hierarchical ZnO micro/nanoarchitectures in one step by a simple hydrothermal route, using Zn(CH3COO)2·2H2O, hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) and NH3·H2O (5%) as the starting materials. The product was characterized by means of powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experiments showed that the morphology of ZnO could be controlled by the volume of NH3·H2O (5%). Using the hierarchical ZnO micro/nanoarchitecture, a simple amperometric sensor for the detection of hydrazine was fabricated. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) revealed that the hierarchical ZnO micro/nanoarchitecture exhibited a higher catalytic effect on hydrazine than normal, flower-like ZnO microstructures. The amperometric sensor was used in the detection of hydrazine with a detection limit of 0.25 μM over a wide linear detection range up to 200 μM, and with a high sensitivity of −15.86 μA mM−1, which is better than for other reported amperometric hydrazine sensors.