Reduction Of Oxygen Vacancies Research Articles

Influence of FRET, charge separation, and density of defect states on the improvement of UV light-driven photocatalytic activity of PMMA capped ZnO nanomaterials

This study employs oxidative polymerization, co-precipitation, and ex-situ surface capping techniques to fabricate pristine PMMA, ZnO, and PMMA-capped ZnO specimens with varying PMMA concentrations. X-ray diffraction reveals reduced directional growth of ZnO, while Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirms PMMA chain bonding with ZnO in PMMA-capped specimens. Scanning electron microscopy illustrates decreased average length and thickness of ZnO nanoplates post-surface modification, indicating a robust interaction between PMMA and ZnO. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy identifies suppressed defects, including zinc interstitials and oxygen vacancies, affirming ZnO surface capping by PMMA. Absorption spectra display a blue shift in band-edge or increased bandgap, attributed to the combined effects of band alignment offset and reduced oxygen vacancy states. Luminescence spectra show gradual quenching linked to PMMA content increase, with defect-related emission suppression attributed to ZnO surface capping. UV emission suppression is ascribed to donor concentration-dependent Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) from PMMA to ZnO. Photocatalytic tests reveal enhanced efficiency in PMMA-capped ZnO catalysts attributed to synergies involving charge separation, bulk recombination centers, oxygen vacancy states, and FRET. Efficiency improves with higher PMMA content, aligning with changes in emission intensity. The study demonstrates emission intensities' tunability through surface capping and donor concentration-dependent FRET, ultimately influencing degradation efficiency.

Excellent energy storage performance with high breakdown strength in Nb2O5-modified (Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3-based ceramics

The development of lead-free dielectric capacitors with good energy storage performance and high reliability is of great practical significance for pulsed power systems. In this study, Nb2O5-modified 0.6(Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3-0.4(Sr0.7Bi0.2)TiO3 (BNT-SBT-xNb, 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.07) ceramics were designed to enhance their energy storage performance and prepared using a hydrothermal method. The results show that Nb doping into the B site of BNT-SBT can induce lattice expansion and promote polar nanoregions, resulting in improved dielectric relaxation behavior. Moreover, the introduction of Nb can lead to the refinement of grain size, the increase in resistivity, the reduction of oxygen vacancies, and the broadening of band gap, thereby significantly enhancing the electrical breakdown strength (Eb). Accordingly, the BNT-SBT-0.05Nb system presents excellent energy storage performance with high Wrec ∼6.26 J/cm3 and η ∼87.9 % under an large Eb of 518 kV/cm in accompany with the wide temperature stability (Wrec and η vary within ±6.8 % and ±3.2 % at 40–100 °C). The significant improvement of Eb and energy storage performance demonstrates that the BNT-SBT-0.05Nb system is a potential candidate for applications in high-energy storage capacitors.

Highly improved ionic conduction in reverse spinel structured CoAl2O4 and ZnO heterostructure through interfacial disordering

For ceramic fuel cells with low temperatures operation (LT-CFCs; 350°-550 °C), increasing the ionic conductivity and improving the oxygen reduction electrocatalytic activity response at low operating temperatures would be highly desired. This Study presents a novel semiconductor heterostructure composite with a competent electrolyte membrane for LT-CFCs. The composite comprises CoAl2O4 (CA) in a spine-like structure and wurtzite-structured ZnO. We have demonstrated a button-sized CFC under H2 and ambient air environment delivering a high power density of 835 mW-cm−2 at 550 °C, with potential operating up-to 400 °C. Compared to ZnO and CA alone, the CA-ZnO heterostructure composite has reduced oxygen vacancy production and activation energy, facilitating ion transport more quickly through the CA-Zn interface. Density functional theory (DFT) computations, photoelectron spectroscopy, U-visible, X-ray diffraction, and HR-TEM are the characterization techniques used to study the enhanced ionic conduction of the CA-ZnO heterostructure composite. These results imply that the heterostructure approach works better than the simple bulk structure for the electrolyte application of LT-SOFCs.

Photocatalytic Degradation of Crystal Violet on Cu, Zn Doped BiVO4 Particles.

Fabrication of codoped photocatalysts is a developing area of research. Herein, we explore the visible light photocatalytic properties of Cu, Zn codoped BiVO4 particles. Doping lower valent cations (Cu and Zn) makes the BiVO4 surface more acidic and enables us to target the basic crystal violet (CV) dye. The adopted hydrothermal protocol of synthesis results in the formation of Cu-Zn codoped monoclinic BiVO4 particles. Undoped monoclinic BiVO4, prepared by the same protocol, showed significant formation of oxygen vacancies. XPS analyses confirm the coexistence of Cu2+/Cu+ and Zn2+ dopants. Increased dopant percentage reduced oxygen vacancies. XRD indicates that Cu2+/Cu+ or Zn2+ dopants generally substitute Bi3+ in BiVO4. All photocatalysis activities for CV degradation are reported under near-neutral pH conditions. A typical codoped BiVO4 photocatalyst with 1% Zn and 2% Cu demonstrated the best CV degradation photocatalytic activity. The activity of this Zn, Cu codoped photocatalyst is better than that of pure, Zn-doped, and Cu-doped BiVO4 samples. Active species trapping experiments indicated the possible photocatalysis mechanism. The photocatalysts exhibited appropriate recyclability and photostability.

Reduction of oxygen vacancies in Mg–N codoped Ga2O3 films for improving solar-blind UV photodetectors performance

Solar-blind photodetectors based on gallium oxide (Ga2O3) have shown possibilities in optical imaging, spatial communication, and other fields. The high oxygen vacancy (VO) content inherent in Ga2O3 film would inevitably result in poor photoelectric detection capability. This work suggests using a codoping for reducing VO concentrations in Ga2O3 films. In a N2O atmosphere, magnesium and nitrogen codoped gallium oxide (Mg–N:Ga2O3) films were grown using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique on (0001) sapphire substrates. It is possible to produce codoped Ga2O3 thin films with low oxygen vacancy density and high crystalline quality by thoroughly examining and optimizing preparation conditions. Metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors were constructed using both pristine and Mg–N codoped Ga2O3 thin films as the active layer. The photodetector with a codoped active layer outperforms those with pristine Ga2O3, with a quick decay time of 20 ms, a high sensitivity of 2.61 × 105, and a high responsivity of 0.191 A/W under 254 nm UV light irradiation, highlighting the significance of the VO concentration decrease in the application of Ga2O3-based solar-blind photodetectors.

Influence of strontium and donor ion substitution on the dielectric, optical, and nonlinear characteristics of (Ca0.9Sr0.1)0.95A0.033Cu3Ti4O12 ceramics

This study expands on a previous investigation by substituting lanthanum with various trivalent ions in the compound (Ca0.9Sr0.1)0.95A0.033Cu3Ti4O12 (A = La3+, Sm3+, Sc3+, Gd3+, Y3+ and Bi3+) through solid-state synthesis. The analysis includes microstructures, optical, dielectric, and nonlinear properties. Sr2+/A3+-doped CCTO exhibits a significant reduction in grain size. The doped samples display a band gap ranging from 3.22 eV to 3.36 eV, with high dielectric permittivity (ε'≈4.51 × 103-5.37 × 104). Additionally, Sr2+/A3+ doping enhances the thermal stability compared to pure CCTO ceramic. Specifically, Sr2+/Sc3+-doped compound shows low loss tangent (tanδ≈0.04) at 60 °C, with the dielectric loss remaining below 0.1 over a temperature range from 50 °C to 160 °C. Furthermore, there is a significant improvement in breakdown voltage (Eb = 8420 V/cm), which is 23 times higher than CCTO (362.5 V/cm), and the coefficient α increases from 3.28 to 12.76. These enhancements are attributed to inhibiting the formation of Ti3+ and reducing oxygen vacancies.

Ferrimagnetic transition, relaxor ferroelectric and optical properties in tungsten bronze Ba6MnNb9O30 ceramics

The structural, magnetic, ferroelectric, dielectric and optical properties of Ba6MnNb9O30 (BMNO) and Ba6Mn0.5Co0.5Nb9O30 (BMCNO) ceramics were investigated. The samples can be indexed by a tetragonal lattice and the space group of P4bm with the presence of a tiny amount of impurity phase Ba1.04NbO3. The sample BMNO undergoes a short-range ferrimagnetic-like transition at 43 K originating from the spin canting of the antiferromagnetic coupling between the adjacent Mn2+ and Mn3+ based sublattices via the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, whereas the sample BMCNO exhibits a local short-range antiferromagnetic state with the presence of weak ferromagnetic ordering. Both samples show the relaxor ferroelectric nature. The sample BMCNO possesses a superior energy storage property with a total energy density of 1.58 J/cm3 and a conversion efficiency of 74.5 %, which can be mainly ascribed to the improved densification and the reduced oxygen vacancies. Two different dielectric relaxations are discussed in term of the Vogel-Fulcher law. In addition, all samples have two different absorption edges and the optical band gaps are determined to be about 2.2 eV and 2.8 eV.

Modification of Cl doping efficiency in transparent ZnO electrode films by tuning deposition temperature

In this study, anion substitution by Cl doping is found to simultaneously enhance carrier concentration by 15% and mobility by 20% in the film deposited at 300 °C. The Cl doping efficiency is remarkably enhanced to 0.88 at% in the film prepared at 300 °C, as compared to room-temperature deposition (0.35 at%). Good O substitution of Cl not only produces free electrons but also reduces oxygen vacancies and trap states, which is confirmed by the Hall measurement and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The sputtered Cl-doped ZnO film obtains the lowest resistivity of 6 × 10−4 Ωcm, and good transparency of 82% in the visible region. It leads to the largest figure of merit for transparent electrodes, which is also better than other previous reports on Cl-doped ZnO films.

Unveiling the confinement and interface effect on low temperature degradation of toluene over mesoporous zeolite encapsulated Pt-CeO2 catalyst

The efficient degradation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at low temperatures is urgently needed due to the serious environmental and health hazards they pose. While precious metal-based catalysts offer excellent performance, their application is limited by high-temperature sintering and aggregation. Therefore, inhibiting the migration and aggregation of precious metals during the reaction process can effectively improve their utilization and alleviate catalyst deactivation. In this study, a novel encapsulated catalyst (Pt-CeO@meso-S1) containing Pt-CeO2 interfaces was constructed using mesoporous-rich zeolite as a shell layer and applied to the catalytic oxidation of toluene. The introduction of CeO2 constructed a Pt-CeO2 active interface that promoted the low-temperature degradation of toluene, achieving complete oxidation of toluene at 160 ℃. The crystalline phase transition strategy enhanced the specific surface area, improving the dispersion of platinum and facilitating the construction of the Pt-CeO2 interface. The zeolite shell and mesoporous pores effectively confined/stabilized the Pt-CeO2 active components and inhibited platinum sintering, resulting in outstanding water resistance and high-temperature stability. DFT calculations demonstrated that the presence of the Pt-CeO2 active interfaces reduced oxygen vacancy formation energy and facilitated gas-phase oxygen activation. DFT calculations demonstrated that the presence of the Pt-CeO2 active interfaces reduces the oxygen vacancy formation energy and boosts the activation of gas-phase oxygen. The Mars-van-Krevelen (MvK) mechanism governing toluene degradation over Pt-CeO2@meso-S1 was revealed by in situ DRIFTS. This work provides a promising candidate for industrial high-performance catalytic removal of VOCs at low temperatures.

Influence of film thickness on structural, optical, and electrical properties of sputtered nickel oxide thin films.

Utilizing radio frequency magnetron sputtering, we successfully fabricated nickel oxide thin films with different thickness (from 80 to 270 nm), and conducted an in-depth examination of their structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties. The crystal structure and surface roughness were determined using x-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. The XRD analyses showed that the films were composed of cubic nickel oxide, exhibiting a notable orientation along the (200) direction. This crystal texture partially increased when the film thickness reached 270 nm. In addition, a direct correlation between film thickness and crystallite size was observed, with the latter increasing as the former did. AFM analysis provided insights into the surface morphology, revealing metrics like the bearing area, 3D surfaces intersections, and statistical properties of surface height. These insights underscore the relationship between film thickness and surface properties, which in turn influence the overall electrical, and prominently, optical properties of the films. Employing transmittance UV-visible spectroscopy, we characterized the optical behavior of these films, noting a proportional increase in refractive index with film thickness. Additionally, resistivity was observed to increase concomitantly with film thickness. In conclusion, the deposition process's film thickness acts as a pivotal parameter for fine-tuning the structural, morphological, and optical properties of nickel oxide thin films. This knowledge paves the way for optimizing nickel oxide-based devices across various applications. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: We synthesized and characterized of p-type semiconducting NiO thin films sputtered on substrates by using RF magnetron sputtering with different thickness. Advanced crystalline structures and fractal features extracted from XRD and AFM analysis. The 2D and 3Dsurface analysis of the samples indicates a complex structure with an imperfect self-similarity that suggests a multifractal structure. We represented graphically the relative representation of higher geometric objects in the AFM image. We attributed the optical and electrical properties of the samples to the crystallite size, and the concurrent reduction in oxygen vacancies and crystalline defects within the films.

Superior energy storage density and bright upconversion emission in Er-modified KNN-based multifunctional ferroelectric ceramics

Developing highly tunable multifunctional performances in one ferroelectric system is in line with the integration trend of electronic equipment. Herein, rare earth erbium (Er) modulated 0.95K0.5Na0.5NbO3–0.05Bi(Li0.5Nb0.5)O3–x%Er photoluminescent–ferroelectric energy storage multifunctional ceramics are prepared. All the compositions exhibit a similar grain size and compact microstructure. In addition, the optimized Er dopant enhances the enhanced relaxor characteristic and reduces oxygen vacancies. The introduction of Er3+ into perovskite lattice contributes to the observed photoluminescence behavior. Therefore, high effective energy storage density (Wrec) of 7.17 J/cm3, energy storage efficiency (η) of 65.4%, and strong green/red upconversion photoluminescence are obtained in x = 0.2 sample. This work opens up a paradigm to develop multifunctional ferroelectric ceramics for application in electro-optical devices.

Stabilizing Ni-rich Single-crystalline LiNi0.83 Co0.07 Mn0.10 O2 Cathodes using Ce/Gd Co-doped High-entropy Composite Surfaces.

Ni-rich layered oxides are promising lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) cathode materials for their high reversible capacity, but they suffer from fast structural degradation during cycling. Here, we report the Ce/Gd incorporated single-crystalline LiNi0.83 Co0.07 Mn0.10 O2 (SC-NCM) cathode materials with significantly enhanced cycling stability. The Gd ions are adequately incorporated in SC-NCM while Ce ions are prone to aggregate in the outer surface, resulting in the formation of a high-entropy zone in the near-surface of SC-NCM, including a Gd doped LiCeO2 (LCGO) shell and Ce/Gd dopant-concentrated layer. The high-entropy zone can effectively inhibit the oxygen evolution and prevent the formation of oxygen vacancies. Meanwhile, it leads to a greatly improved H2-H3 phase transformation reversibility and mitigated stress/strain caused by Li-ion extraction/insertion during (de)lithiation process. The synergetic effects of reduced oxygen vacancies concentration and mitigated stress/strain can effectively prevent the in-plane migration of TM ions, lattice planar gliding as well as the formation of intragranular nanocracks. Consequently, Ce/Gd incorporated SC-NCM (SC-NCM@CG2) delivers a high initial discharge specific capacity of 219.7 mAh g-1 at 0.1 C and an excellent cycling stability with a capacity retention of 90.2 % after 100 cycles at 1.0 C.

Stabilizing Ni‐rich Single‐crystalline LiNi0.83Co0.07Mn0.10O2 Cathodes using Ce/Gd Co‐doped High‐entropy Composite Surfaces

AbstractNi‐rich layered oxides are promising lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) cathode materials for their high reversible capacity, but they suffer from fast structural degradation during cycling. Here, we report the Ce/Gd incorporated single‐crystalline LiNi0.83Co0.07Mn0.10O2 (SC‐NCM) cathode materials with significantly enhanced cycling stability. The Gd ions are adequately incorporated in SC‐NCM while Ce ions are prone to aggregate in the outer surface, resulting in the formation of a high‐entropy zone in the near‐surface of SC‐NCM, including a Gd doped LiCeO2 (LCGO) shell and Ce/Gd dopant‐concentrated layer. The high‐entropy zone can effectively inhibit the oxygen evolution and prevent the formation of oxygen vacancies. Meanwhile, it leads to a greatly improved H2‐H3 phase transformation reversibility and mitigated stress/strain caused by Li‐ion extraction/insertion during (de)lithiation process. The synergetic effects of reduced oxygen vacancies concentration and mitigated stress/strain can effectively prevent the in‐plane migration of TM ions, lattice planar gliding as well as the formation of intragranular nanocracks. Consequently, Ce/Gd incorporated SC‐NCM (SC‐NCM@CG2) delivers a high initial discharge specific capacity of 219.7 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C and an excellent cycling stability with a capacity retention of 90.2 % after 100 cycles at 1.0 C.

Exploring the impact of thermal oxidation temperature on photoelectrochemical water splitting capabilities of Ga2O3[formula omitted] modified TiO2

This paper reports the influence of thermal oxidation of Ga2O3 thin films deposited on titanium foil substrates via RF magnetron sputtering. The samples were characterized and subjected to photoelectrochemical analysis to assess their photocurrent density response. XRD spectra disclose Ti, TiO2), and Ga2O3 crystal phases. EDX analysis indicates that oxidation temperature reduces oxygen vacancies. Kubelka-Munk technique is used to estimate the optical band gap energies of the TiO2/Ga2O3. The band gap energy decreases from 2.39 to 1.99 and 2.14 eV for TG500 and TG600, whereas TG800 and TG700 increase to 2.98 and 3.09 eV. The TG500 disclosed the highest photocurrent density response of 1382 μAcm−1 at 1.2 V vs. Ag/AgCl in 0.5 M NaOH electrolyte, attributed to decreased oxygen vacancies and band gap. With the strong photocurrent response, stability, and repeatability, the samples may be useful in photocatalytic water-splitting applications for green hydrogen production.

Optimizing electrical performance of low hysteresis Sr0.7Bi0.2TiO3 energy storage ceramic

Dielectric capacitors with rapid discharge rates and high power density are the basis for advanced pulsed power systems. Sr0.7Bi0.2TiO3 (SBT) is expected to be used in energy storage capacitors owing to the small hysteresis and high energy storage efficiency (η). Nevertheless, the low breakdown strength (BDS) limits the enhancement of energy storage density. This study explores the potential of Ho2O3-modified SBT to address this limitation. Introducing Ho reduces oxygen vacancies, decreases electrical conductivity, and increases thermal conductivity, thus enhancing BDS. The enhancement mechanism of electrical performance is studied through microscopic morphology analysis, structural refinement and numerical simulation. The Sr0.7Bi0.15Ho0.05TiO3 exhibits remarkable properties, including ultra-low loss tanδ (0.1 %), ultra-high η (95.8 %), and outstanding thermal, frequency, and cycling stability in energy storage properties. Additionally, Sr0.7Bi0.15Ho0.05TiO3 possesses a high power density (67.9 MW/cm3) and a rapid discharge rate (0.03 μs). The findings indicate that Sr0.7Bi0.15Ho0.05TiO3 is a prospective material for energy storage capacitors.

A comparative investigation of structural, magnetic and photocatalytic properties of pure, Ce-Ni and Cd-Ni co-doped BiFeO3 nanoparticles

Bismuth ferrite, BiFeO3 (BFO) as well as Ce-Ni, Cd-Ni co-substituted BiFeO3 nanoparticles were prepared using the sol–gel route. XRD and Raman results show a structural phase transformation from rhombohedral (pristine BFO) to orthorhombic in the case of Bi0.94Cd0.06Fe0.94Ni0.06O3 (BCdFNO6), which implies that Cd substitution can induce the obvious transition of crystal structure while Ce substitution Bi0.94Ce0.06Fe0.94Ni0.06O3 (BCeFNO6) cannot. An apparent blue shift can be noted in all the substituted samples and with a reduction of the direct optical bandgap compared with the pristine BFO. The XPS findings show that Ce-Ni and Cd-Ni substitution increases the Fe3+ ions (Cd-Ni co-doped samples reveal the best outcomes), which would be evidence for reducing oxygen vacancies and improving magnetism. Cd-Ni co-substituted into BFO can improve magnetic properties because the ionic radii of Cd2+ ion are smaller than that of Bi3+ ion; moreover, intriguingly, the room temperature magnetic (M−H) hysteresis loops reveal the greatest saturation magnetization value in Cd-Ni co-substituted samples. The co-doped of Cd-Ni, has the greatest degradation activity 99.48 % of MB and 98.76 % of RhB would be successes after 90 min irradiation, which was raised by 9.49 %, 25 % of MB and 9.52 %, 26.92 % of RhB from that of the Ce-Ni co-doped and pristine BFO.

Reduced leakage current and enhanced energy storage performance of BZNT/BTO multilayer structures: Implications in electronic devices

The extremely high recoverable energy density (Wrec) and efficiency (η) of lead-free thin films make them a promising candidate for application in miniature power devices. Here, a stable design of multilayered structures of BaTiO3 (BTO) and Bi[Zn2/3(Nb0.85Ta0.15)1/3]O3 (BZNT) have been fabricated using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique on n-type Si, and Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si (Pt-Si) substrates. The effect of a number of stacking of alternate BTO and BZNT layers on the structural, microstructural, electrical, and ferroelectric properties is investigated. The films exhibited a polycrystalline nature, and the tetra-layer stacked film (BZNT/BTO3) exhibited better crystallinity, improvement in microstructure, and grain growth than that of the bi-layer stacked film (BZNT/BTO1). The improvement in ferroelectric response in the tetra-layer film is well correlated to the low leakage current density (∼10-7 A/cm2 at ±500 kV/cm) owing to reduced defects in the film. The reduced oxygen vacancies and dielectric loss tangent of order 10-3 validate the high quality of BZNT/BTO3 film exhibiting a large Wrec of 52.19 J/cm3 and high energy efficiency of 92.21 % achieved through interface engineering. These findings demonstrate the promising future for BTO-based multilayer thin film in high-power and energy-storage device applications.

Scattering-free Ce:LYBO single crystals for thermal neutron detection

Ce:Li6Y(BO3)3 (LYBO) is a well-known candidate for thermal neutron detection with a very high Li concentration (3.06 × 1022/cm3). So far, as-grown crystals exhibit a milky appearance that compromises their performance as scintillators. Current work demonstrates, for the first time, the growth of scattering-free undoped and Ce-doped LYBO by a thermal quenching process. The origin and features of the scattering centers are investigated in detail. Furthermore, the annealing treatment for the scintillation activation is studied, finding that the reduction in oxygen vacancies is mandatory. Under thermal neutron irradiation, the annealed scattering-free Ce:LYBO single crystal achieves a record-high light yield of 6200 ph/n in a single decay with a lifetime as short as 24 ns.

The effect of Li/Ce co‐doping on structural and electrical properties of Sr2−x(Li, Ce)x/2Nb2O7 piezoelectric ceramics

AbstractAs a typical perovskite‐like layered structure (PLS) ceramic, Sr2Nb2O7 (SNO) possesses a high Curie temperature TC value above 1300°C, which is expected to work in higher temperature environment. However, pure SNO presents a piezoelectric constant d33 value of ∼ 1 pC/N. Hence, (Li, Ce) ions are doped in SNO ceramics, which increases the distortion of oxygen octahedrons and enhances the intrinsic contribution of piezoelectric properties. The increased domain size with large proportion of high response areas means that the extrinsic contribution is also improved. The introduction of (Li, Ce) ions can also promote ceramic's grain growth and reduce oxygen vacancies, leading to the improvement of electrical properties. The optimal component Sr1.96(Li, Ce)0.02Nb2O7 ceramics exhibit a d33 value of 3.1 pC/N, a higher resistivity of 1.65×106 Ω·cm at 700°C and an excellent thermal stability (a d33 value of 3.0 pC/N after annealing at 1200°C for 2 h). This work provides an effective approach with simple process and low cost for the application of PLS materials in high‐temperature environments.

Effect of UV-O3 treatment on the performance of UV detector based on zinc oxide/molybdenum disulfide nanosheet heterostructures

UV photodetectors based on ZnO nanostructures, using a metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) configuration, are popular due to their simple fabrication. However, they experience high dark currents and slow photoresponse speeds. This is due to a high recombination rate for photogenerated electrons and holes as well as low charge carrier mobility attributable to ZnO's inherent defects. In this study, MoS2 nanosheets was employed to cover the surface of ZnO nanorods, creating a unique architecture that focuses the impact of MoS2 solely on light absorption and charge transfer on the ZnO surface. Subsequently, a 15-min UV-O3 exposure is applied to the ZnO/MoS2 structure. The ZnO/MoS2UVo heterostructure exhibits remarkable results, including a six-fold increase in sensitivity compared to pure ZnO, Additionally, the Detectivity increases by 265 %, while the Responsivity and Quantum Efficiency rise by up to 102 %. These enhancements are attributed to the reduction of dark current coming from the reduction of oxygen vacancies as sulfur edge atoms from MoS2 fill these vacancies. Furthermore, additional dark current reduction post UV-O3 treatment is due to both the reduced ZnO oxygen vacancies and the formation of a thin MoO3 passivation layer on the ZnO NR surface. Despite these achievements, the study acknowledges the presence of multiple junctions between ZnO, MoS2, and MoO3, which still pose challenges for efficient charge transfer to the electrodes.