The pyrolytic decomposition of layered basic zinc acetate (LBZA) nanobelts (NBs) into nanocrystalline ZnO NBs is investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and photoluminescence (PL). We also report on the gas sensing response of the resulting ZnO nanomaterial to CO. The LBZA NBs are grown at 65°C in an aqueous solution of zinc acetate dihydrate. AFM and SEM results show as-grown products possess the characteristic layered structure of the LBZA crystals. XRD and XPS results show that annealing as-grown products at 210°C in air causes a transformation from zinc acetate to nanocrystalline ZnO NBs via thermal decomposition. The ZnO crystalline domain size increases with temperature from 9.2nm at 200°C to 94nm at 1000°C, as measured from XRD. SEM shows evidence of sintering at 600°C. The thickness of the NBs, determined via AFM, ranges from 10 to 50nm and remains approximately constant with annealing temperature. XPS confirmed the chemical transformation from zinc acetate to ZnO and showed a significant remaining zinc hydroxide component for the ZnO NBs consistent with published results. PL measurements at room temperature show a blue shift in peak emission as the nanobelts change from LBZA to ZnO at 200°C. Above this transition temperature, the ZnO nanobelts possess strong band edge emission at 390nm and little broad band emission in the visible region. The AFM and SEM images reveal that the crystallites within the nanobelts orientate in rows along the long axis during annealing. This structure provides a high surface area to volume ratio of aligned nanoparticles which is beneficial for gas sensing applications. Gas sensors fabricated from 400°C annealed nanobelts showed a response of 1.62 when exposed to 200ppm of CO in dry air at 400°C, as defined by the ratio of resistance before and during exposure. This indicates that ZnO nanostructures obtained by thermal decomposition of LBZA NBs could provide a cost effective route to high sensitivity gas sensors.

The pyrolytic decomposition of layered basic zinc acetate (LBZA) nanobelts (NBs) and nanosheets (NSs) into nanocrystalline ZnO NBs/NSs has been investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Photoluminescence (PL). We also report on the gas sensing response of the resulting ZnO nanomaterials to CO. The LBZA NBs were grown at 65°C for 9h in an aqueous solution of zinc acetate dehydrate and the LBZA NSs were grown in 2min in a standard microwave oven. AFM, SEM and XRD showed as-grown products possess the characteristic layered structure of LBZA crystals. XRD results showed that annealing as-grown products a 400°C in air caused a transformation from zinc acetate to nanocrystalline ZnO via thermal decomposition and that the crystalline domain size increased with temperature. The thickness of the NBs and NSs, determined via AFM, ranged from 10 to 50 nm. PL shows a larger defect band for ZnO NBs, compared to NSs. Gas sensors fabricated from 400°C annealed NBs showed a response of 1.62 when exposed to 200ppm of CO in dry air at 400°C. The same response was observed at 325°C for the NSs, which also had better response at lower concentrations. Our results indicate that ZnO nanostructures obtained by thermal decomposition of LBZA NBs/NSs could provide a cost effective route to high sensitivity gas sensors.