Synthesis of ZrSe2 Nanoparticles by Hydrothermal Method for Gas Sensing Applications

Abstract

Nowadays metal oxide nanoparticles and transition metal dichalcogenides play a vital role in various areas like optical sensors, solar cells, energy storage devices, gas sensors and biomedical applications. In the current research work, we synthesized ZrSe2 nanoparticles by hydrothermal method. The ZrSe2 nanoparticles were synthesis using precursors such as ZrOCl2.8H2O and Na2SeO3.5H2O in the addition of surfactant cetyl trimethyl ammonia bromide CTAB and reductant hydrazine hydrate, respectively. By using synthesized ZrSe2 nanopowder thick films were developed on a glass substrate using the screen printing method. The structural properties of ZrSe2 powder were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the hexagonal crystal structure and crystalline size were found to be 55.75 nm. The thick films of ZrSe2 were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX). The surface morphological analysis of ZrSe2 nanostructured thick film shows hierarchical nanoparticles. The energy band gap of synthesized powder was calculated using a Tauc plot from UV-visible spectroscopy. The gas-sensing properties of ZrSe2 thick films were studied. The developed ZrSe2 thick films show maximum sensitivity and selectivity towards the ammonia NH3 gas at an operating temperature of 120 °C and the gas concentration was 500 ppm. The developed thick films show fast response and recovery time.Nowadays metal oxide nanoparticles and transition metal dichalcogenides play a vital role in various areas like optical sensors, solar cells, energy storage devices, gas sensors and biomedical applications. In the current research work, we synthesized ZrSe2 nanoparticles by hydrothermal method. The ZrSe2 nanoparticles were synthesis using precursors such as ZrOCl2.8H2O and Na2SeO3.5H2O in the addition of surfactant cetyl trimethyl ammonia bromide CTAB and reductant hydrazine hydrate, respectively. By using synthesized ZrSe2 nanopowder thick films were developed on a glass substrate using the screen printing method. The structural properties of ZrSe2 powder were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the hexagonal crystal structure and crystalline size were found to be 55.75 nm. The thick films of ZrSe2 were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX). The surface morphological analysis of ZrSe2 nanostructured thick film shows hierarchical nanoparticles. The energy band gap of synthesized powder was calculated using a Tauc plot from UV-visible spectroscopy. The gas-sensing properties of ZrSe2 thick films were studied. The developed ZrSe2 thick films show maximum sensitivity and selectivity towards the ammonia NH3 gas at an operating temperature of 120 °C and the gas concentration was 500 ppm. The developed thick films show fast response and recovery time.

Keywords

• hydrothermal method
• transition metal dichalcogenides
• thick films
• gassensor
• tauc