Environmentally Benign Structural, Topographic, and Sensing Properties of Pure and Al-Doped ZnO Thin Films

Abstract

= 0.00, 0.01, 0.02, and 0.03) thin films obtained from AFM micrographs analysis indicates the modification of the spherical grains into nanorods, which were distributed throughout the surface of the films. The SEM image of 3 wt % Al-doped ZnO nanomaterials also shows that spherical nanoparticles changed to nanorod-like structures with a high packing density. Furthermore, increasing the Al-doping concentration from 0 to 3 wt % in ZnO NPs shows lower hysteresis loss, less aging effect, and good sensitivity in the range of 9.8-16.5 MΩ/%RH. The sensitivity of the sensing materials increased with increasing Al-doping concentration, which is very useful for humidity sensors.