Gas sensors based on zinc oxide nanorods with colloid quantum dots

A design and technological solution for increasing the temporal stability of gas sensors based on the nanorods-colloidal quantum dots structure is presented. For this purpose, zinc oxide nanorods oriented predominantly to the surface normal were grown by the hydrothermal method. Silicon nitride, followed by etching to the level of zinc oxide colloidal dots in an inductively coupled plasma using a gas mixture based on sulfur hexafluoride, was deposited onto the resulting structure by RF magnetron sputtering. Through accelerated aging testing, it has been found that silicon carbide protected zinc oxide nanorods exhibit greater temporal stability due to less surface oxidation resulting in a reduction in specific surface area. Silver nanoparticles with a plasmon effect were deposited onto the resulting structure by centrifugation.