Facile Fabrication of Mesoporous Hierarchical Co-Doped ZnO for Highly Sensitive Ethanol Detection

The development of highly sensitive gas-sensing materials for the detection of volatile organic compounds at low temperature is vital for gas sensors. Herein, novel mesoporous hierarchical Co-doped ZnO was successfully constructed by calcining layered zinc hydroxide precursors prepared through a facile hydrothermal route. The hierarchical architectures of the precursors were preserved after their conversion to mesoporous Co-doped ZnO through calcination, and the obtained mesoporous hierarchical Co-doped ZnO was systematically characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectra. The hierarchical Co-doped ZnO was assembled by many thin nanosheets composed of small nanoparticles (8.6 nm), and the hierarchical Co-doped ZnO with 5 atom % doping amount has a specific surface area of 111.7 m2 g–1 and abundant mesopores in the range of 2–50 nm. Gas-sensing tests demonstra...