Abstract
Eu-doped In2O3 nanobelts (Eu-In2O3 NBs) and pure In2O3 nanobelts (In2O3 NBs) are synthesized by the carbon thermal reduction method. Single nanobelt sensors are fabricated via an ion beam deposition system with a mesh-grid mask. The gas-sensing response properties of the Eu-In2O3 NB device and its undoped counterpart are investigated with several kinds of gases (including H2S, CO, NO2, HCHO, and C2H5OH) at different concentrations and different temperatures. It is found that the response of the Eu-In2O3 NB device to 100 ppm of H2S is the best among these gases and the sensitivity reaches 5.74, which is five times that of pure In2O3 NB at 260 °C. We also found that the former has an excellent sensitive response and great selectivity to H2S compared to the latter. Besides, there is a linear relationship between the response and H2S concentration when its concentration changes from 5 to 100 ppm and from 100 to 1000 ppm. The response/recovery time is quite short and remains stable with an increase of H2S concentration. These results mean that the doping of Eu can improve the gas-sensing performance of In2O3 NB effectually.
Highlights
Due to its unique properties and special application prospects, low-dimensional metal-oxide semiconductor nanomaterials have been widely investigated in recent years [1,2,3]
We present the synthesis of In2O3 NBs and Eu-In2O3 NBs by the carbon thermal reduction method
The NBs were synthesized by the carbon thermal reduction method in a horizontal alundum tube which was mounted inside a high-temperature tube furnace (HTF)
Summary
Due to its unique properties and special application prospects, low-dimensional metal-oxide semiconductor nanomaterials have been widely investigated in recent years [1,2,3]. Lai et al have reported that In2O3 nanorods have a good response to formaldehyde [10] These investigations confirm that indium oxide nanomaterials really have good gas-sensitive properties. To the best of our knowledge, attention has been focused on the morphological or optical properties of Eu-doped In2O3 nanomaterials instead of their gas-sensitive properties [18,19] Several features such as flexible structure, structural homogeneity, and crystallographic perfection make nanobelts a great choice for sensor devices [7]. The sensing properties of a single NB to five kinds of gases are measured Compared with those of the pure NB, the Eu-In2O3 NB sensor has higher response and better selectivity to H2S. The Eu-In2O3 NBs show great potential in gas-sensing applications
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