Nitroaniline chemi-sensor based on bitter gourd shaped ytterbium oxide (Yb2O3) doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures

Abstract Bitter gourd shaped ytterbium oxide (Yb 2 O 3 ) doped ZnO nanostructures were synthesized through hydrothermal method and analyzed using various techniques including field energy emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) accompanied with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), UV-visible spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Yb 2 O 3 doped ZnO product showed long oblong shaped structures with distinct crunchy and warty exterior texture similar to the bitter gourd fruit. The average length of the bitter-gourd fruit shaped structures was ∼3.5 μm. The calculated average crystallite size and band gap energy of Yb 2 O 3 doped ZnO nanostructures were 18.75 nm and 3.34 eV, respectively. The silver electrode (AgE) modified electrochemical sensor fabricated using bitter gourd shaped Yb 2 O 3 doped ZnO nanostructures exhibited excellent sensitivity of 117.6 μA.mM −1 cm −2 , measured LOD of 0.39 mM, linear dynamic range (LDR) of 0.39 mM–6.25 mM and regression correlation coefficient (R 2 ) = 0.94892.