Characterization of Graphene Flower based composites and its Electronic applications

Abstract

The performance of any Electronic device has relied on the availability of suitable functional material. Like, wide band gap, high electron injection rate, easy availability, low cost, high carrier concentration, low static dielectric constant and high electron mobility are the required properties for materials to use in photovoltaic industry. Same as for other electronic devices, especially, the performance of sensors is dependent on the response of active materials used for sensing. Despite all efforts to develop new materials, it still remains a challenge to have all the desirable aspects in a single material. One of the simple, easy, and cost-effective ways to get novel functional materials with improved properties for desired applications is to make composites of selected materials. In this work, Zinc oxide (ZnO), a transparent, wide bandgap n-type semiconductor and, a unique structure of graphene named graphene flower have been used to make a composite. A simple solution process approach has been used to make GrF/ZnO composite. GrF/ZnO composite's morphological, elemental, and structural characterizations were performed by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), Energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and x-ray diffractometer (XRD), respectively. This newly prepared GrF/ZnO composite was used as an active material for humidity sensing. An ultra-sensitive humidity sensor has been demonstrated using Graphene Flower and ZnO (GrF/ZnO) composite. The proposed humidity sensor was tested at the humidity range of 15% to 86% relative humidity RH%. The demonstrated sensor has shown a highly sensitive response to humidity, an average current change of 7.77μA/RH%. Also, the proposed sensor response was very stable, repeatable, ultrafast response, and recovery time. Moreover, the demonstrated sensor was ultrasensitive to normal human breathing, making it a promising candidate for health monitoring applications.