Facile synthesis of discus-like porous CuO architectures and their enhanced xylene gas sensing performances

Abstract

• Discus-like porous CuO architectures are fabricated by a facile route. • Discus-like porous CuO can rapidly detect xylene with superior stability. • Porous structure and catalytic oxidation of CuO improve sensing behaviors. The discus-like porous CuO architectures have been successfully synthesized through a facile room temperature coprecipitation approach followed by subsequent annealing treatment. The multiple characterizations by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) demonstrate that the as-prepared CuO samples show unique discus-like porous structures with superior morphological homogeneity and dispersion. When applied as a gas sensing material, discus-like porous CuO based gas sensor shows an enhanced xylene gas sensing performance, including a fast response/recovery speed (2 s/13 s) and well stability as well as repeatability at an optimal working temperature of 260 ℃. The superior xylene gas sensing properties are predominantly attributed to the synergistic effect of porous discus-like architectures and the catalytic oxidation of p-type semiconductor CuO on xylene gas.