Enhancement of xylene gas sensing by using Au core structures in regard to Au@SnO2 core-shell nanocomposites

Abstract

We prepared pristine SnO2 nanoparticles (NPs) and Au@SnO2 core-shell (C-S) nanocomposites for xylene gas sensing. A simple chemical synthesis was used to synthesize Au@SnO2 C-S nanocomposites. Xylene sensing measurements showed that the response of Au@SnO2 C-S nanocomposites was better than that of pristine SnO2 nanoparticles (NPs), demonstrating promising effects of Au@SnO2 C-S structure for xylene sensing. At 350 °C, it disclosed a good response of 27.9 (50 ppm) to xylene, and the best response of SnO2 to 50 ppm of this gas was 13.04 at 450 °C. Furthermore, Au@SnO2 C-S nanocomposites showed better selectivity to xylene compared to pristine SnO2 NPs. The Au catalytic effect and the generation of Au-SnO2 Schottky barriers and a special structure of Au@SnO2 C-S nanocomposite with high porosity were accounted for via the high-performance Au@SnO2 C-S gas sensor. The results achieved here highlight the promising combination of Au and SnO2 for xylene sensing.