December 2014 – Institute of Nano Electronic Engineering

Abstract – Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene have built broad interest in most areas of science and engineering because of their extraordinary physical, mechanical, thermal and optical properties. Graphene is a two-dimensional one-atom-thick planar sheet of sp2-bonded carbon atoms while CNTs are a cylindrical nanostructure which composed entirely of sp2-bonded carbon atoms as well. This review presents and discusses the past and current advancement of synthesis and characterization of graphene and CNTs. The review also concludes with a brief summary and an outlook on the challenges and future
prospects in the growth of graphene and CNTs.

Keywords – carbon nanotubes, cnt, graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide

Corresponding Author: Liu Wei Wen
Corresponding Author’s Email: wwliu@unimap.edu.my

Full text: PDF

Abstract – A sol-gel spin coating technique was described for the synthesis of Pd doped ZnO nanorods for hydrogen sensing applications. The nanorods were hexagonal in shape, 50–100 nm in diameter and uniform in distribution. They exhibited homogeneous surface morphology, c-axis orientation and excellent crystalline properties. The synthesized nanorods were used to sense and detect hydrogen in a homemade gas chamber. The fabricated sensor successfully detected as low as 40 ppm hydrogen at room temperature with a very low level of power supply (16.16 mA) under a mixed background. Dynamic and repeated responses were observed with a wide range of hydrogen concentrations (40–360 ppm) at 200 C. The developed sensor was at least 25 fold more sensitive over the literature documented Pd doped ZnO nanorods in detecting hydrogen at ambient temperature. The simplicity, low-cost, high sensitivity and high stability of the sensor materials suggested that the synthesized Pd doped ZnO nanorods could be used in hydrogen and chemical sensing devices where Pd-mediated catalysis is involved.

Keywords – Pd doped ZnO nanorods, Hydrogen sensors, Sol–gel, Spin coating

Corresponding Author: Uda Hashim
Corresponding Author’s Email: uda@unimap.edu.my

Full text: PDF