Gas Sensors Based on Flower-like ZnO Structures: Detection of Acetylene Gas Dissolved in Transformer Oil

As an important arc discharge characteristic gas dissolved in power transformer, acetylene (C
₂
H
₂
) plays a quite significant role in transformer fault diagnosis. Current study indicates that shape control of 3D hierarchical flower-like ZnO structures used for C
₂
H
₂
detection remains a challenge. In this work, taper-flower and bundle-flower ZnO nanostructures were synthesized with assistance of active agents in a hydrothermal method, and the possible growth mechanisms were proposed. As for C
₂
H
₂
detection, sensor based on bundle-flower not only has a lower optimum operating temperature, but also exhibits higher sensitivity, better selectivity and stability than these of the taper-flower one. The results suggest that the bundle-flower ZnO provides an ideal platform for gas sensor applications.