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Development of ZnO nanostructure film for pH sensing application

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Abstract

Nanostructured zinc oxide sensing film was deposited on the Si/SiO2/Pt substrate by the RF magnetron sputtering process. The film was characterized by FESEM (field-emission scanning electron microscope) and XRD (X-ray diffraction) for their morphology and structural analysis. The FESEM results show that the film morphology is in nanophase with an average nanostructure size of ~ 50 nm. XRD results show that the film is polycrystalline. The AFM (atomic force microscopy) and Raman spectroscopy were done to analyze the surface roughness and the structural properties of the film, respectively. FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy) was used to analyze the presence of ZnO. Further, the ZnO nanostructure film has been explored for pH sensing for pH (4–12). The sensitivity of the film was found to be 31.81 mV/pH. The drift characteristics of the film were also done to find out the stability of the film.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge IIT, Jodhpur for extending the experimental facility, and MRC, MNIT Jaipur for characterization facilities. Authors are also thankful to CSIR, New Delhi for providing the research facilities and financial support. They also acknowledge the support of Director, CSIR-CEERI, Pilani.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur, Jaipur, Rajasthan, 302017, India

    Prashant Sharma, Kamlendra Awasthi & Manoj Kumar

  2. CSIR-Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CEERI), Pilani, Rajasthan, 333031, India

    Prashant Sharma, Rishi Sharma & Ravindra Mukhiya

  3. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, 201002, India

    Rishi Sharma & Ravindra Mukhiya

  4. Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 342017, India

    Vijendra Singh Bhati

  5. Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 342017, India

    Mahesh Kumar

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  1. Prashant Sharma
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Sharma, P., Bhati, V.S., Kumar, M. et al. Development of ZnO nanostructure film for pH sensing application. Appl. Phys. A 126, 284 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-020-03466-w

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