In-situ sodium chloride template synthesis of γ-WO3 hollow cubes for high-sensing and dual-selective hydrazine/dibutylamine detection at different temperatures

Abstract

The fabrication of a chemiresistive sensor with dual-selectivity to highly toxic and explosive N2H4/dibutylamine (DBA) remains challenging due to no report. To this aim, we synthesized uniform (NH4)0.33WO3 cuboid precursors through optimized solvothermal reaction and in-situ formed NaCl template. Subsequently, the precursors were calcined in air to transform into γ-WO3 hollow cubes (WO3-HC) assembled from near-spherical nanoparticles, and the effect of calcination temperature on microstructures and gas-sensing properties was investigated. Among, WO3-HC-5 obtained by calcining precursor at 500 °C has broad pore channels, large specific surface area and abundant oxygen vacancy defects. Under the catalytic synergy of surface W6+ Lewis acid with dangling bonds, WO3-HC-5 sensor realizes the bifunctional monitoring of N2H4 and DBA. It presents large response value (S = 606.6) to 100 ppm N2H4 at 50 °C and a good response (S = 76.7) to the same concentration of DBA at 217 °C, and has fast response rate, low practical detection limit, satisfactory stability and humidity resistance. WO3-HC-5 represents the first metal oxide-based sensor with dual-selectivity towards aforementioned harmful gases at different operating temperatures. Moreover, the bifunctional mechanism has been characterized and analyzed in detail.