The need to improve the sensitivity, selectivity and stability of ozone gas sensors capable of monitoring the environment to prevent hazard to humans has sparked research on binary metal oxides. Here we report on a novel ozone gas sensor made with ca. 0.5 μm yolk-shelled ZnCo₂O₄ microstructures synthesized via an eco-friendly, co-precipitation method and subsequent annealing. With these ZnCo₂O₄ microspheres, ozone concentrations down to 80 parts per billion (ppb) could be detected with a.c. and d.c. electrical measurements. The sensor worked within a wide range of ozone concentrations, from 80 to 890 ppb, being also selective to ozone compared to CO, NH₃ and NO₂. The high performance could be attributed to the large surface area to volume ratio inherent in yolk-shell structures. Indeed, ozone molecules adsorbed on the ZnCo₂O₄ surface create a layer of holes that affect the conductivity, as in a p-type semiconductor. Since this mechanism of detection is generic, ZnCo₂O₄ microspheres can be further used in other environment monitoring devices.

需要提高能够监测环境以防止对人的危害的臭氧气体传感器的灵敏度，选择性和稳定性，引发了对二元金属氧化物的研究。在这里，我们报告了一种用ca.制成的新型臭氧气体传感器。通过生态友好的共沉淀方法和随后的退火过程合成了0.5μm的带卵黄壳的ZnCo ₂ O ₄微观结构。使用这些ZnCo ₂ O ₄微球，通过交流和直流电测量可以检测到低至80十亿分之一（ppb）的臭氧浓度。该传感器可在80至890 ppb的臭氧浓度范围内工作，与CO，NH ₃和NO ₂相比，对臭氧具有选择性。高性能归因于卵黄壳结构固有的大表面积与体积之比。实际上，像在p型半导体中一样，吸附在ZnCo ₂ O ₄表面的臭氧分子会形成一层影响电导率的空穴。由于这种检测机制是通用的，因此ZnCo ₂ O ₄微球可以进一步用于其他环境监测设备中。