Preparation of porous sea-urchin-like CuO/ZnO composite nanostructure consisting of numerous nanowires with improved gas-sensing performance

doi:10.1007/s11706-022-0583-y

Front. Mater. Sci.

2022, Vol. 16

Issue (1) : 220583 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11706-022-0583-y

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Preparation of porous sea-urchin-like CuO/ZnO composite nanostructure consisting of numerous nanowires with improved gas-sensing performance

Haibo REN^1,^2,³(

), Huaipeng WENG¹, Pengfei ZHAO¹, Ruzhong ZUO¹(

), Xiaojing LU², Jiarui HUANG²(

)

¹. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu 241000, China
². Key Laboratory of Functional Molecular Solids (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241002, China
³. Modern Technology Center, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu 241000, China

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Abstract

A sea-urchin-like CuO/ZnO porous nanostructure is obtained via a simple solution method followed by a calcination process. There are abundant pores among the resulting nanowires due to the thermal decomposition of copper–zinc hydroxide carbonate. The specific surface area of the as-prepared CuO/ZnO sample is determined as 31.3 m²·g⁻¹. The gas-sensing performance of the sea-urchin-like CuO/ZnO sensor is studied by exposure to volatile organic compound (VOC) vapors. With contrast to a pure porous sea-urchin-like ZnO sensor, the sea-urchin-like CuO/ZnO sensor shows superior gas-sensing behavior for acetone, formaldehyde, methanol, toluene, isopropanol and ethanol. It exhibits a high response of 52.6–100 ppm acetone vapor, with short response/recovery time. This superior sensing behavior is mainly ascribed to the porous nanowire-assembled structure with abundant p–n heterojunctions.

Keywords copper oxide zinc oxide copper--zinc hydroxide carbonate volatile organic compound gas sensor

Corresponding Author(s): Haibo REN,Ruzhong ZUO,Jiarui HUANG

About author:

Miaojie Yang and Mahmood Brobbey Oppong contributed equally to this work.

Issue Date: 24 January 2022

Cite this article:

Haibo REN,Huaipeng WENG,Pengfei ZHAO, et al. Preparation of porous sea-urchin-like CuO/ZnO composite nanostructure consisting of numerous nanowires with improved gas-sensing performance[J]. Front. Mater. Sci., 2022, 16(1): 220583.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/foms/EN/10.1007/s11706-022-0583-y
https://academic.hep.com.cn/foms/EN/Y2022/V16/I1/220583

Fig.1 (a) XRD patterns of Zn_1.5Cu_1.5CO₃(OH)₄·4H₂O precursor and final CuO/ZnO product (CuO peaks are marked with asterisks). (b) EDS result of the CuO/ZnO product.

Fig.2 Representative SEM images of (a)(b) sea-urchin-like Zn_1.5Cu_1.5CO₃(OH)₄·4H₂O precursor and (c)(d) porous sea-urchin-like CuO/ZnO composites. (e) TEM image (inset shows the SAED pattern) and (f) lattice-resolved HRTEM image of porous sea-urchin-like CuO/ZnO composites.

Fig.3 TGA and DTA curves of the sea-urchin-like Zn_1.5Cu_1.5CO₃(OH)₄·4H₂O precursor.

Fig.4 FTIR spectra of the sea-urchin-like Zn_1.5Cu_1.5CO₃(OH)₄·4H₂O precursor (a) and the sea-urchin-like CuO/ZnO composite (b).

Fig.5 Nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms of sea-urchin-like CuO/ZnO composites. Inset is the corresponding pore size distribution.

Fig.6 XPS results of porous sea-urchin-like CuO/ZnO composites: (a) survey spectrum; (b) Cu 2p, (c) Zn 2p, and (d) O 1s spectra.

Fig.7 (a) Responses of sensors upon exposure to 100 ppm acetone gas at different working temperatures. (b) Responses of sensors upon exposure to 8 kinds of gases (100 ppm) at their optimal operating temperatures.

Fig.8 Real-time response curves of sensor device upon exposure to different concentrations of (a) acetone, (b) formaldehyde, (c) isopropanol, and (d) ethanol at a working temperature of 220 °C. The insets are the corresponding sensor response curves.

Tab.1 Responses of various CuO/ZnO-based gas sensors towards acetone or ethanol at different concentrations

Fig.9 Sketch of a single porous CuO/ZnO nanowire illustrating the depletion due to interactions with adsorbed species (such as O⁻) and the formation of p-CuO/n-ZnO interfaces.

Fig. S1 The experimental set-up.

Fig. S2(a) Photograph of the sensor. (b) Diagram of the test principle of the gas sensing measurement system (V_h: heating voltage; V_c: circuit voltage; V_out: signal voltage; and R_L: load resistor).

Fig. S3 XRD patterns of ZnO precursor (a) and calcined ZnO product of the precursor (b).

Fig. S4 Sea-urchin-like CuO/ZnO composites: (a) SEM image; corresponding EDS mapping images of (b) Cu, (c) Zn and (d) O elements.

Fig. S5 Representative SEM images of (a)(b) sea-urchin-like ZnO precursor and (c)(d) porous sea-urchin-like ZnO sample.

Fig. S6 Nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherms of porous sea-urchin-like ZnO sample (inset: the corresponding pore size distribution).

Fig. S7 Dynamic response-recovery curves of (a) porous sea-urchin-like CuO/ZnO sensor and (b) porous sea-urchin-like ZnO sensor towards 100 ppm acetone.

Fig. S8 Real-time response curves of porous sea-urchin-like ZnO sensor device upon exposure to different concentrations of (a) acetone, (b) formaldehyde, (c) isopropanol, and (d) ethanol at a working temperature of 260 °C. The insets show the corresponding sensor response curves.

Fig. S9 Energy-band diagrams (CB, conduction band; VB, valence band; E_c, the bottom of conduction band; E_v, the top of valance band; E_F, the Fermi level): (a) CuO and ZnO; (b) CuO nanoparticles-decorated porous ZnO nanosheets.

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