Abstract
The aim of this research is to study the role of nanocrystalline TiO2/SnO2 n–n heterojunctions for hydrogen sensing. Nanopowders of pure SnO2, 90 mol % SnO2/10 mol % TiO2, 10 mol % SnO2/90 mol % TiO2 and pure TiO2 have been obtained using flame spray synthesis (FSS). The samples have been characterized by BET, XRD, SEM, HR-TEM, Mössbauer effect and impedance spectroscopy. Gas-sensing experiments have been performed for H2 concentrations of 1–3000 ppm at 200–400 °C. The nanomaterials are well-crystallized, anatase TiO2, rutile TiO2 and cassiterite SnO2 polymorphic forms are present depending on the chemical composition of the powders. The crystallite sizes from XRD peak analysis are within the range of 3–27 nm. Tin exhibits only the oxidation state 4+. The H2 detection threshold for the studied TiO2/SnO2 heterostructures is lower than 1 ppm especially in the case of SnO2-rich samples. The recovery time of SnO2-based heterostructures, despite their large responses over the whole measuring range, is much longer than that of TiO2-rich samples at higher H2 flows. TiO2/SnO2 heterostructures can be intentionally modified for the improved H2 detection within both the small (1–50 ppm) and the large (50–3000 ppm) concentration range. The temperature Tmax at which the semiconducting behavior begins to prevail upon water desorption/oxygen adsorption depends on the TiO2/SnO2 composition. The electrical resistance of sensing materials exhibits a power-law dependence on the H2 partial pressure. This allows us to draw a conclusion about the first step in the gas sensing mechanism related to the adsorption of oxygen ions at the surface of nanomaterials.
Highlights
The TiO2–SnO2 system is extremely important for gas sensing as already proved by many works already published [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]
The temperature Tmax at which the semiconducting behavior begins to prevail upon water desorption/oxygen adsorption depends on the TiO2/SnO2 composition
The temperature Tmax at which the semiconducting behavior begins to prevail over water desorption/oxygen adsorption depends on the TiO2–SnO2 composition
Summary
The TiO2–SnO2 system is extremely important for gas sensing as already proved by many works already published [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. It is usually assumed that SnO2 grains are more suitable for oxygen adsorption, electron transfer from TiO2 grains is necessary to increase the number of adsorption sites. The potential difference that is formed when TiO2 and SnO2 grains come to contact facilitates electron transport from TiO2 to SnO2 promoting oxygen preadsorption at the surface of SnO2 grains
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