Synthesis and characterization of nanostructured zinc oxide layers for sensor applications

Fractal structures and arrays of nanowires based on zinc oxide are fabricated by two different methods, sol-gel dip-coating and chemical bath deposition combined with sol-gel synthesis. The gas-sensitive properties of the structures are analyzed. It is found that the greatest sensitivity to reducing ethanol vapor is exhibited by the structure with a lower layer in the form of an array of zinc-oxide nanowires modified by four immersions in a copper nitrate solution.