High acetone sensing properties of In2O3-NiO one-dimensional heterogeneous nanofibers based on electrospinning.

Abstract

Pure NiO nanofibers and the In2O3–NiO one-dimensional heterogeneous nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning, and the gas sensing properties to acetone were also investigated. Material characterization proved that the heterogeneous nanofibers were composed of In2O3 and NiO, and the nanofibers exhibited an enhanced sensitivity to acetone. At the optimal working temperature, the response of In2O3–NiO nanofibers to 50 ppm acetone was more than 10 times higher than that of pure NiO nanofibers. The minimum detection limit of the heterogeneous nanofibers reached 10 ppb, while the pure NiO nanofibers only reached 100 ppb. Among acetone and the comparison gases (methanol, ethanol, triethylamine, ethyl acetate, and benzene), the heterogeneous nanofibers achieved the highest response to acetone. In addition, the heterogeneous nanofibers exhibited an improved response–recovery rate and good long-term stability. These results indicated that the In2O3–NiO one-dimensional heterogeneous nanofibers have great potential in low-concentration acetone detection. Combined with the material properties, the mechanism of the enhanced sensing properties was discussed in detail for the In2O3–NiO heterogeneous nanofibers.