Morphology modulation of ZnO microspheres and improvement of triethylamine detection performance by introducing carbon dots

Abstract

Microspherical ZnO composites were prepared by introducing carbon dots (CDs) in situ by a one-step hydrothermal method. The effects of precursor and calcination treatments on the microstructure and morphology, compositional features and triethylamine (TEA) detection were carefully investigated. The results show that the addition of excess urea promotes the formation of CDs, the produced UC-ZnO composite presents microspheres with relatively smooth surface after calcination, and the retained CDs form heterojunctions with ZnO. TC-ZnO composite produced by adding excess trisodium citrate displays bowl-shaped depressions on the surface. After calcination, the porous structures with large specific surface area and carbon incorporation are achieved. The two composites show improved gas-sensitive response and reduced detection limit for TEA. The sensitivity for 100 ppm TEA at the optimal operating temperature of 350°C is 357 for UC-ZnO and 526 for TC-ZnO sensor, which are 21% and 80% higher than that of pure ZnO, respectively. The TC-ZnO sensor possesses an excellent low detection limit of 32 ppb. The introduction of CDs effectively modulates the morphology and interface state of ZnO microspheres, and improves the gas-sensitive performance.