Thick film of ZnO nanorod as an environmental gas monitor

D. D. Kale, D. R. Patil, K. M. Garadkar,

Dept. of Chemistry, University of Pune, Pune-7, India,
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Abstract
ZnO nanorods were synthesized by a new and simple pulsed microwave method. These rods have the
diameter of about 7 nm and length of few micrometers. Polyvinyl alcohol was used as stabilizing agent.
The ZnO nanorods were characterized by the UV-visible spectroscopy, the peak was obtained at 363.22nm,
FT-IR predicts the hydroxyl group of polyvinyl alcohol adsorbed on the surface of ZnO nanoparticle.
Particle size and lattice parameters were calculated from XRD. The structure of nano-ZnO is hexagonal.
Photoluminescence (PL) of the as synthesized hexagonal ZnO nanorods were observed at 535 nm and as
the temperature increases, the intensity of the PL decreases. TEM image supports the rod type structure.
The effects of surface microstructure and particle size on the sensitivity, selectivity, response and recovery
of the sensor in the presence of various gases were studied and discussed. The better performance could be
attributed to the smaller particle size of ZnO nanorods.

Keywords: ZnO nanorods, XRD, SEM, FT-IR, Photoluminescence, Thick films, Gas sensor.
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