Nitrogen incorporated zinc oxide thin film for efficient ethanol detection

Zinc oxide which is a n-type semiconducting metal oxide (SMO) has been a promising material for detecting ethanol vapor. However, pure ZnO based ethanol sensors often suffer from high working temperature, cross sensitivity towards methanol and poor stability against humidity. Here in we report improving the ethanol sensing characteristics of ZnO thin films by substitutional nitrogen doping. Ethanol sensing characteristics of the N-ZnO thin film has been compared with pure ZnO sensor over a wide range of temperature and relative humidity conditions. The N-ZnO sensor exhibits significantly large ethanol sensing response at a lower operating temperature (~99% at 225 °C vs ~81% at 250 °C for ZnO), faster response time (12 s vs 33 s for ZnO), long term stability, improved resilience against humidity and selectivity towards ethanol over other VOCs. The experimental observations have been supplemented by estimating the adsorption energies of ethanol on ZnO and N-ZnO surface using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We discuss that the microscopic origin of improved ethanol sensing of N-ZnO is related to the facile adsorption of ethanol molecules on the oxide surface which is promoted by modification of electronic properties of ZnO by the nitrogen dopant atoms. [Display omitted] •Wet chemical synthesis of nitrogen doped zinc oxide thin film using urea as nitrogen precursor.•Ethanol sensing properties of N-ZnO film have been compared with ZnO thin film.•N-ZnO offers fast detection, and higher response at a lower operating temperature.•N-ZnO shows selectivity towards ethanol and resilience against humidity conditions.•DFT study suggests enhanced adsorption of ethanol on N-ZnO surface.