Synthetic and structural investigation of ZnO nano-rods, hydrothermally grown over Au coated optical fiber for evanescent field-based detection of aqueous ammonia

Fabrication of modified clad optical fiber consisting of ZnO-nanorod deposited over a thin film of gold (Au), employing hydrothermal technique within an autoclave is presented. The deposited ZnO material was analyzed using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ra...
Ausführliche Beschreibung

Fabrication of modified clad optical fiber consisting of ZnO-nanorod deposited over a thin film of gold (Au), employing hydrothermal technique within an autoclave is presented. The deposited ZnO material was analyzed using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, Photoluminescence (PL) spectra, Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Differential thermal analysis (DTA), Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) which confirms the ZnO hexagonal nimrod formation in as-synthesized material. The developed sensor was tested with ethanol, ammonia, acetone, and 2-propanol to measure the selectivity of the sensor. The response time, as well as recovery time of ZnO doped fiber-based sensor with and without Au coating, was measured 25 s, 360 s and 30 s, 240 s respectively. This ZnO-nanorod coated modified clad optical fiber exhibit good sensing performance towards ammonium ions in aqueous solution with improved sensitivity (%) ∼ 0.638 compared to pure ZnO doped modified clad optical fiber at room temperature. Ausführliche Beschreibung