Low-cost fabrication of high-performance p-n heterojunction nanostructures for UV and visible light detection and organic gas sensing

In this study, p-type Cr2O3 nanoparticles and n-type ZnO nanowires were successfully synthesized on a glass substrate using the chemical bath and hydrothermal methods. The resulting core-shell ZnO-Cr2O3 nanostructures exhibited rectification properties, with an ultra-low leakage current of 37.1 pA at a - 10 V reverse bias. The crystal structure of the Cr2O3 nanoparticles and ZnO nanowires was confirmed to be polycrystalline and singlecrystalline, respectively, through XRD patterns and HR-TEM analysis. These p-n heterojunction nanostructures displayed exceptional response levels of 9.1 x 105 for UV, 2.6 x 102 for blue light, and 826% for organic gas sensing.