Enhanced acetone gas-sensing performance of La2O3-doped flowerlike ZnO structure composed of nanorods

Flowerlike ZnO nanostructures composed of nanorods were synthesized by co-precipitation method using Zn(NO3)2·6H2O and (CH2)6N4 as reactants, polyethylene glycol 400 as surfactant. La2O3 was dispersed onto the obtained ZnO with a content of 0.5–2.0 wt% to enhance the gas-sensing property. Gas-sensing results of the La2O3-doped ZnO to ethanol, acetone, ammonia and formaldehyde, respectively, reveal that response of La2O3-doped ZnO to a specified test gas is higher than that of no La2O3-doped. Response of 1.0 wt% La2O3-doped ZnO to 200 ppm acetone reaches 54.1 at the working temperature of 350 °C, and the response time is only 8 s, implying the potential for detection of low gas concentration.