Synergetic effects of lanthanum substituted Ni-Zn-Cu-Co ferrite nanocomposite with enhanced NH3 sensing performance

Abstract The increase in modern technologies upsurges the pollution of air by ten-fold in the past decade leading to the cause of an increased number of deaths and infectious diseases. This has provoked the research community in developing variable gas sensing materials to detect harmful gases in the present condition. Herein, the lanthanum (La) substituted Ni-Zn-Cu-Co ferrite nanocomposite (La (Ni-Zn-Cu-Co-Fe2O4)) was synthesized via an eco-friendly co-precipitation technique and is utilized as ammonia (NH3) gas sensor. The structural and morphological studies showed the formation of a typical inverse spinel structure of the cubic phase, with spherically agglomerated and interconnected nanostructures. Further, the saturation magnetization (Ms) of the as-synthesized nanocomposite was found to be 1.66 emu using the Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). The fabricated La (Ni-Zn-Cu-Co-Fe2O4) nanocomposite thin film exhibited an outstanding sensing capability towards ammonia gas with a response and recovery time of 20 s and 15 s respectively, which was on par with the current generation ammonia sensors and posted a sensor response of 86.2% with good repeatability and stability. Moreover, the synthesized material was also found to be more biocompatible, which stands as a bonus.