Fabricated Chemiresistive Sensor for Detection of Ethanol Using NDICY-ZnO Nanohybrid

The high concentration of ethanol vapors can be a biomarker for fatty liver diseases and severely damage the nervous system. Naphthalene diimide (NDI) has been regarded as n-type semiconductor. NDI possesses high electron affinity, thermal stability, and electron mobility, which make NDI a promising material for electronic devices. Therefore, a dipeptide (
${C}$
= 6-aminocaproic acid,
${Y}$
= L-tyrosine) functionalized NDI based zinc oxide (NDICY-ZnO) nanohybrid has been synthesized via facile single-pot hydrothermal method. The NDICY-ZnO based sensor exhibits a response of 66.4% with a response/recovery time of 450/500 s, respectively, upon exposure to 500 ppm ethanol at 27 °C. It also shows remarkable selectivity to the ethanol vapors compared to other interfering gases and volatile organic compound (VOC), for instance, methanol, benzene, aniline, NO
₂
,
$\text{H}_{{2}}\text{S}$
, CO
₂
, acetone, and formaldehyde. Moreover, NDICY-ZnO nanohybrid sensor performance is also analyzed under varying relative humidity (RH) conditions which highlights the positive effect on ethanol sensing response. The responses at 46%, 75%, and 97% RH are recorded as 66.4%, 75.4%, and 83.6%, respectively. In addition, NDICY-ZnO fabricated device shows excellent stability, less air sensitivity, and reusability for 90 days. These impressive findings facilitate the low-cost and highly selective detection of ethanol under ambient conditions.