文摘
Novel CuO nanoparticle-capped ZnO nanorods have been produced using a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method. These nanorods are shown to grow by a CuO–nanoparticle-assisted vapor–solid–solid (V–S–S) mechanism. The photoluminescence (PL) accompanying ultraviolet illumination of these capped nanorod samples shows large variations upon exposure to trace quantities of H2S gas. The present data suggest that both the Cu-doped ZnO stem and the CuO capping nanoparticle contribute to optical H2S sensing with these CuO–ZnO nanorods. This study represents the first demonstration of PL-based H2S gas sensing, at room temperature, with sub-ppm sensitivity. It also opens the way to producing CuO–ZnO nanorods by a V-S-S mechanism using gas-phase methods other than PLD.