Zn doped MoO3 nanobelts and the enhanced gas sensing properties to ethanol

Abstract Zn doped MoO 3 nanobelts with the thickness of 120–275 nm, width of 0.3–1.4 μm and length of more than 100 μm are prepared by hydrothermal reaction. The operating temperature of sensors based on Zn doped MoO 3 nanobelts is 100–380 °C with a better response to low concentration of ethanol. The highest response value of sensors based on Zn doped MoO 3 to 1000 ppm ethanol at 240 °C is 321, which is about 15 times higher than that of pure MoO 3 nanobelts. The gas sensors based on Zn doped MoO 3 nanobelts possess good selectivity to ethanol compared with methanol, ammonia, acetone and toluene, which implies that it would be a good candidate in the potential application. The improvement of gas sensing properties may be attributed to the increasing absorbed ethanol, the decreasing probability of ethoxy recombination, the promoted dehydrogenation progress at lower temperature, and the narrowed band gap by Zn doping.