UV irradiation-assisted ethanol detection operated by the gas sensor based on ZnO nanowires/optical fiber hybrid structure

•A novel gas sensor was developed which was integrated ZnO nanowires over the optical fiber surface.•The ZnO nanowires/optical fiber hybrid structures integrated the sensitive element and UV irradiation element.•UV irradiation-assisted detection was applied in ethanol gas sensing.•The gas sensor with UV irradiation responded to ppb-level ethanol.•The gas sensor with UV irradiation achieved a good sensitivity at low temperature. In this work, the gas sensor based on a novel ZnO nanowires/optical fiber hybrid structure was proposed in order to enhance the sensing properties of ethanol detection with UV irradiation. The results showed that UV irradiation was able to enhance the sensitivity and shorten the response time, and the sensor performed a good long-term stability as well. The UV-assisted sensor could response to the low concentration at ppb-level of ethanol at relatively lower temperatures, and a sensing mechanism was proposed to understand the effect of UV irradiation in the ethanol detection process. The gas sensor based on the ZnO nanowires/optical fiber hybrid structure is practical for detecting gas with ultra-low concentration and the combination of UV irradiation is an effective approach to develop high-performance gas sensors.