Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 J Mater Sci: Mater Electron DOI 10.1007/s10854-017-8042-8 Zeolite A coated Zn 1−X Cu X O MOS sensors for NO gas detection Sezin Galioglu 1  · Irmak Karaduman 2  · Tuğba Çorlu 2  · Burcu Akata 1,3  · Memet Ali Yıldırım 4  · Aytunç Ateş 5  · Selim Acar 1   Received: 20 September 2017 / Accepted: 11 October 2017 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2017 growth method. zeolite A coated Zn 0.75 Cu 0.25 O sensor exhib- ited both high selectivity and high response towards NO gas. The detection limit of the zeolite coated Zn 0.75 Cu 0.25 O sensor was shifted to 20 ppb for NO gas at operating tem- perature of 25 °C. 1 Introduction Recently, semiconducting metal oxide (MOS) gas sensors have attracted considerable attention because of their many advantages over traditional chemical analysis methods; these advantages include fast response, high sensitivity, small dimensions, ease of use, portability, simple design, simplicity of fabrication, real-time detection, low detection limits, low cost, and low power consumption [1, 2]. Among them, ZnO is the technologically important semiconducting material used as a sensing material due to its low cost, long- life, thermal and chemical stability and simple fabrication process [2]. Successful development of ZnO based gas sensors for commercialization requires achieving three “S”: sensitiv- ity, selectivity, and stability [3]. Among them, stability is considered as the most important requirement for commer- cial devices with other properties remaining acceptable. Sensitivity is usually improved by doping noble catalyst particles and annealing processes. It is closely related to the detection limit of the sensor, which at present is as low as several ppm for the commercially gas sensor. Li et al. demonstrated that Ce-doping was increased sensing properties of ZnO microspheres sensors which operated at low temperature [4]. They reported that the Ce doped ZnO microspheres exhibited the highest sensitivity with rapid response and recovery times compared to pure one [4]. Hjiri et al. reported the Al-doped ZnO sensorexhibiting Abstract In the current study, a novel and highly sen- sitive gas sensing material for the detection of NO gas was reported. Copper doped zinc oxide nanostructures (Zn 1−x Cu x O, where x = 0.25 steps) were grown as a semi- conducting sensor material by using Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) method. The structural, morphological and optical properties of nanostructures were investigated by X-Ray Difractometer (XRD), Scan- ning Electron Microscope (SEM) and UV–visible spectrom- eter. NO gas sensing measurements were carried out as a function of temperature and gas concentrations. The sen- sors exhibited acceptable responses towards 50 ppb NO gas at operating temperature of 55 °C. The sensors were opti- mized and the maximum response of 8% was obtained for the Zn 0.75 Cu 0.25 O sensor. To increase sensor selectivity, zeo- lite A (LTA) microporous flm, used as a flter, was coated on the optimized Zn 0.75 Cu 0.25 O sensor by using secondary Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10854-017-8042-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Irmak Karaduman irmak.karaduman06@gmail.com 1 Department of Micro and Nanotechnology, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey 2 Department of Physics, Science Faculty, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey 3 Central Laboratory, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey 4 Department of Electric Electronics Engineering, Engineering Faculty, Erzincan University, Erzincan, Turkey 5 Department of Material Engineering, Engineering and Natural Sciences Faculty, Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Ankara, Turkey