A highly selective room temperature ammonia sensor using spray deposited zinc oxide thin film

Nanostructured ZnO thin films were deposited on glass substrates at 503 K using spray pyrolysis technique and the films were post annealed at 673 K in air atmosphere for 3 h. The structural, morphological and optical properties of as-deposited and annealed samples were investigated. The annealed films showed uniform spherical morphology in contrast with as-deposited films. XRD patterns of both the annealed and as-deposited films confirmed the polycrystalline nature of the films with hexagonal wurtzite structure. Room temperature ammonia sensing characteristics of annealed films were studied for various concentration levels of ammonia at dry air and humidity conditions. A highest room temperature response of 233 was achieved at 25 ppm of NH3 with a response and recovery times of 20 and 25 s respectively. The response of the sensor to other gases such as methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol, benzyl alcohol and acetone indicated a high selectivity towards ammonia gas. The room temperature (303 K) operation, with high selectivity, repeatability and fast transition times of the sensor together with the low deposition cost suggests suitability for developing a low power cost-effective ammonia sensor.