Round-patterned ZnO nanostructure coated with siloxane-based polymer for nerve agent detection

•In this experiment, we investigated nanostructures by adjusting the diameter of the arranged ZnO nanorods according to PS spheres of various sizes.•We have designed and synthesized a siloxane-based polymer as a sensing material.•To evaluate its specific adsorbing properties, a flat S1 polymer and patterned ZnO nanostructures assisted with PS were prepared on QCM for sensing DMMP.•We demonstrated that the patterned ZnO nanostructures could effectively adsorb gas particles within a short period of time.•It was concluded that patterned ZnO nanostructures assisted with PS 800 nm among the three sizes of PS spheres most effectively improved the sensitivity of QCM.