Abstract
UV light-assisted gas sensors based on metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) have attracted much attention in detecting flammable and explosive gases at room temperature. In this paper, graphite-based carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets-decorated ZnO porous hollow microspheres (PHMSs) with the size about 3~5 μm in diameter were successfully synthesized by annealing the solvothermally-synthesized Zn5(CO3)2(OH)6 PHMSs together with g-C3N4. The synthesized samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, FT-IR and XPS. The results indicated that the prepared g-C3N4/ZnO PHMSs were constructed by numerous loosely stacked ZnO nanoparticles of 20~30 nm in diameter. Gas sensing tests indicated that under UV light (365~385 nm) illumination, the sensors fabricated with g-C3N4/ZnO HPMSs showed an enhanced response and faster response speed than the pure ZnO counterpart at room temperature. In addition, the g-C3N4/ZnO sensor also exhibited good repeatability and long-term stability for CH4 detection.
Highlights
As active materials of solid-state gas sensors, metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) has been recognized a promising candidate for develop light-assisted low temperature sensor for the detection of flammable and explosive gases [1,2,3,4,5]
The results proved the successful decoration of g-C3N4 nanosheets on the porous shell of the ZnO porous hollow microspheres (PHMSs)
The results of gas sensing tests indicated that under UV-light irradiation, the sensor based on g-C3N4/ZnO PHMSs showed an improved CH4 sensing property than the sensor based on pure ZnO PHMSs at room temperature
Summary
As active materials of solid-state gas sensors, metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) has been recognized a promising candidate for develop light-assisted low temperature sensor for the detection of flammable and explosive gases [1,2,3,4,5]. Espid et al studied the photo-responsive performance of ZnO/In2O3 sensors for detecting NO2 under UV LED irradiation at room temperature [6]. They found that the sensing process of composite materials relies on the irradiation of ultraviolet light, which can affect the response time of the sensors by changing the UV flux. There are few reports on the design and synthesis of ZnO based light-activated gas sensing materials for CH4 detection
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