High performance of gas sensor based on Bi-doped ZnSnO3/CuO nanocomposites for acetone

Abstract

Bi-doped ZnSnO 3 /CuO composite (Bi–ZnSnO 3 /CuO) was synthesized by in situ precipitation in this study. The material structure, morphology, size, specific surface area, and surface composition were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Bi–ZnSnO 3 /CuO composite had a profoundly porous structure. CuO was bolstered on the surface of cubic ZnSnO 3 . The addition of Bi and CuO effectively expanded the substance of oxygen vacancies and chemisorbed oxygen of ZnSnO 3 /CuO. Gas-sensing test results appeared that Bi–ZnSnO 3 /CuO had excellent gas-sensing performances for acetone, with a 386.19 sensitivity to 100 ppm acetone under an optimal operating temperature of 375 °C and a response/recovery time of 4 s/12.5 s. The excellent improvement in the gas-sensing performances of Bi–ZnSnO 3 /CuO over those of ZnSnO 3 can be due to the rich mesoporous structure and the arrangement of a large number of oxygen defects and p-n heterojunctions. Excellent gas-sensing performances make Bi–ZnSnO 3 /CuO an ideal sensing material for acetone gas. • The highly porous structure on the surface of the Bi–ZnSnO 3 /CuO composite. • The content of oxygen vacancies (O vac ), and chemisorbed oxygen (O che ) increased greatly (Bi–ZnSnO 3 /CuO). • The operating temperature of Bi–ZnSnO 3 /CuO (375 °C) is lower than that of ZnSnO 3 (425 °C). • The sensitivity of Bi–ZnSnO 3 /CuO under 100 ppm acetone gas was 386.19, and the response/recovery time was only 4 s/12.5 s.