摘要
Gamma-ray irradiation is a fast and efficient technique that can constructively create various defects in a controlled manner to tune materials’ functionality. In this work, zinc oxide nanorods are hydrothermally grown over flexible polyethylene terephthalate paper substrate and then irradiated with 60 Co gamma-ray source to create various defects for possible enrichment towards NO 2 gas sensing. The sensors irradiated with gamma-ray show enhanced NO 2 responses of 120%, 160%, and 185% for 500 ppb concentration at the irradiation doses of 1.5 kGy, 4.5 kGy, and 6 kGy, respectively, as compared to the pristine sensor response of 80%. Maximum response of 312% is achieved at the irradiation dose of 6 kGy for 1500 ppb of NO 2 . Overall, this study confirms that the enhanced oxygen vacancies, defect concentration, and increased grain boundaries, caused by gamma-ray irradiation can eventually achieve more than two times better efficiency towards NO 2 detection at room temperature (25 ℃) on a flexible based NO 2 sensor.