Abstract
Bitter gourd shaped ytterbium oxide (Yb2O3) doped ZnO nanostructures were synthesized through hydrothermal method and analyzed using various techniques including field energy emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) accompanied with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), UV-visible spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Yb2O3 doped ZnO product showed long oblong shaped structures with distinct crunchy and warty exterior texture similar to the bitter gourd fruit. The average length of the bitter-gourd fruit shaped structures was ∼3.5 μm. The calculated average crystallite size and band gap energy of Yb2O3 doped ZnO nanostructures were 18.75 nm and 3.34 eV, respectively. The silver electrode (AgE) modified electrochemical sensor fabricated using bitter gourd shaped Yb2O3 doped ZnO nanostructures exhibited excellent sensitivity of 117.6 μA.mM−1cm−2, measured LOD of 0.39 mM, linear dynamic range (LDR) of 0.39 mM–6.25 mM and regression correlation coefficient (R2) = 0.94892.
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•Facile hydrothermal growth of bitter gourd shaped Yb2O3 doped ZnO nanostructures.•Yb2O3 doped ZnO modified AgE used for 4-nitroaniline sensing.•High sensitivity of ∼117.6 μA.mM−1cm−2 for the fabricated sensor.•The fabricated sensor exhibited LOD of 0.39 mM and LDR of 0.39 mM–6.25 mM.