A comparative study on the gas sensing performance of SnO2 and GO-SnO2 sensor devices.

Abstract

Using Modified Hummer’s technique, eco-friendly carbon derivative (GO) nanoparticles were obtained from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) precursor. Nanocomposite of GO-SnO2 and undoped SnO2 were synthesized using the coprecipitation method. The as-prepared nanoparticles were subjected to diverse analytical processes employing Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to study the internal morphological properties of the nanoparticles. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was used to examine elemental quantifications of the nanopowders. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to analyze bond structures and functional groups. Dynamic responses of various gas sensor devices to 20 ppm concentrations of methane (CH4) and hydrogen (H2) were investigated as a function of time at room temperature. The GO-SnO2 nanocomposite sensing device demonstrated an ideal detection response with values of 5.00 and 5.08, corresponding to methane and hydrogen analyte gases. The doped SnO2 sensor device outperformed the pure SnO2, accounting for the GO-SnO2 > SnO2 order. Regarding the target gases, the synthesized nanocomposite demonstrated stability and selectivity in the following order of magnitude: H2 > CH4. The GO doping effect was found to have introduced surface defects, increased pores, and enabled more oxygen-active sites to be formed on the sensor device’s surface for dynamic gas sensing response, providing a comparatively enhanced sensor response.