Study on sheet resistance variation in ZnO nanorod arrays upon exposure to LPG at room temperature

Detection of combustible and potentially hazardous gases in the environment is an important matter to be considered in environmental air quality monitoring. Accidental leakage of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is known to cause fire hazards causing loss of life and property and hence real time monitoring of such leakages at room temperature using a cheap and easily available mechanism is of vital importance. In this paper, we have fabricated highly sensitive zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods to study the detection of LPG using a simple and economical method and have measured the sheet resistance of ZnO thin film at room temperature by the Four Point Probe method. The change in the value of sheet resistance of ZnO thin film indicates that ZnO is a promising material for LPG detection and this property of ZnO can be exploited for fabrication of low cost LPG sensors.