ABSTRACT

Methanol which exerts negative influences on human health is widely found in industrial products. Metal oxides are well-studied for methanol detection but limited knowledge is available for zinc oxide (ZnO). In this study, ZnO nanorods (ZnONRs) were produced hydrothermally at a low temperature (80°C) with the aid of a ZnO seeds layer to create an electrode for methanol detection. The nanorods ranged from 62 nm to 90 nm in diameter. The nanorods aggregated in aligned patterns on the indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate. The resulting ZnONRs/ITO electrode showed a progressive positive response to methanol in increasing concentrations of 0.1 mM−5.0 M. The ZnONRs/ITO electrode exhibited a remarkable 0.30 μAmM⁻¹cm⁻² sensitivity with a 0.42 mM detection limit and a linear correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.9327. The results thus proved the potential of ZnONRs/ITO electrode as a highly sensitive methanol sensor in an aqueous solution.

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