High selectivity and sensitivity gas sensors to n-butanol based on Ni-doped ultra-thin porous single-crystalline ZnO nanosheets

Ni doped porous single-crystalline (PSC) ZnO nanosheets were successfully synthesized through a facile wet-chemical method. The as-prepared products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive spectrum (EDS). It can be found that the Ni doped PSC ZnO nanosheets with a few micrometers in length and 8–10 nm in thickness. The gas sensing properties of the Ni doped PSC ZnO nanosheets were systematically investigated. And the results reveal that the 2 at% Ni doped PSC ZnO nanosheets shows dramatically high sensitivity and selectivity for the detection of n-butanol compared to the performance of pure ZnO nanosheets. The as-prepared products combined the advantages of porous structure, single-crystalline, and ultra-thin thickness, and Ni doping, which definitely resulted in high sensing performance and selectivity property in n-butanol detection. Therefore, the doping of Ni into PSC ZnO nanosheets may be a promising method to develop advanced nanomaterials for the practical application of n-butanol detection in complex gas atmosphere. [Display omitted] •The Ni doped PSC ZnO nanosheets were successfully synthesized through a low-cost method.•The 2% doping ratio is the optimal ratio.•The Ni doped PSC ZnO nanosheets based sensors show dramatically selectivity to n-butanol.•The single-crystalline, porous structure, thin thickness and Ni doping lead to the excellent performance.