Combinatorial Material Strategy: Parallel Synthesis and High-Throughput Screening of WO3 Nanoplates Decorated with Noble Metals for VOCs Sensor

Abstract

In this study, we report on the rapid preparation of WO3 nanoplates decorated with noble metals and evaluate their gas-sensing performance using a high-throughput screening technique. The incorporation of Pd significantly enhanced the gas-sensing properties, and, among all of the samples tested, the WO3 nanoplate containing 0.3 mol% Pd exhibited the highest response to 100 ppm xylene at 250 °C (Ra/Rg = 131.2), which was almost 56 times greater than that of the pure WO3 sample. Additionally, this sample demonstrated rapid response and recovery times (τresponse = 3.9 s and τrecovery = 189.2 s, respectively). The nanoplate samples were also classified and screened using cluster analysis, and the selected samples were optimized for use in a sensor array. By applying principal component analysis and Fisher discriminant analysis, four typical gases were identified and a potential sensitization mechanism was elucidated.