Surface Modified Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles as Smart UV Sensors

Abstract

The present paper examines the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles and their surface modification via the microwave assisted sonochemical method along with its successful application in designing a smart UV sensor. The structure of the prepared samples was investigated using XRD, XPS and its respective crystallinity studies. The photoluminescence spectroscopy identified an increase in the green emission intensity due to surface modification which is attributed to the density of oxygen vacancies. The variation in the dielectric constant and dielectric loss values with surface modification is clearly substantiated. As a case study, it was observed a smart UV sensor fabricated using this surface modified ZnO response and decay time that are 14 s and 16 s, respectively. Also, the possibility of surface modification in tuning the sensing responses has been investigated in detail.