Facile synthesis of Ni-doped SnO<sub>2</sub> nanorods and their high gas sensitivity to isopropanol

doi:10.1007/s11706-022-0585-9

Front. Mater. Sci.

2022, Vol. 16

Issue (1) : 220585 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11706-022-0585-9

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Facile synthesis of Ni-doped SnO₂ nanorods and their high gas sensitivity to isopropanol

Yanqiu YU, Shantang LIU(

)

Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Process (Ministry of Education), School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430073, China

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Abstract

In this work, pure SnO₂ and Ni-doped SnO₂ nanorods were synthesized through a one-step template-free hydrothermal method and then used to detect isopropanol. Sensors fabricated with the Ni-doped SnO₂ nanocomposites showed the best gas sensing performance when the Ni doping amount was 1.5 mol.%. The response reached 250 at 225 °C, which was approximately 8.3 times higher than that of the pure SnO₂ nanorods. The limit of detection for isopropanol was as low as 10 ppb at the optimum working temperature. In addition, it also displayed good selectivity and excellent reproducibility. It is believed that the enhanced isopropanol sensing behavior benefit from the increased oxygen defects and larger specific surface area by Ni doping.

Keywords template-free hydrothermal method isopropanol gas sensor Ni doping low detection limit

Corresponding Author(s): Shantang LIU

About author:

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

Issue Date: 27 January 2022

Cite this article:

Yanqiu YU,Shantang LIU. Facile synthesis of Ni-doped SnO₂ nanorods and their high gas sensitivity to isopropanol[J]. Front. Mater. Sci., 2022, 16(1): 220585.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/foms/EN/10.1007/s11706-022-0585-9
https://academic.hep.com.cn/foms/EN/Y2022/V16/I1/220585

Fig.1 (a) XRD patterns of bare SnO₂ samples with 0 mol.%, 0.5 mol.%, 1.0 mol.%, 1.5 mol.%, 2.0 mol.% and 2.5 mol.% Ni doping. (b) High-resolution XRD patterns of (1 1 0) and (1 0 1) peaks for different samples.

Fig.2 Typical SEM images of as-obtained nanorods: (a)(b) pure SnO₂; (c)(d) Ni_1.5-SnO₂. The inset shows EDX spectrum of Ni_1.5-SnO₂.

Fig.3 (a)(b)(c)(d) TEM images, (e)(f)(h)(i) HRTEM images, and (g)(j) SAED patterns of SnO₂ (in panels (a), (b), (e), (f) and (g)) and Ni_1.5-SnO₂ (in panels (c), (d), (h), (i) and (j)).

Fig.4 XPS results: (a) full spectrum of Ni_1.5-SnO₂; (b) Ni 2p spectrum of Ni_1.5-SnO₂; (c) Sn 3d spectra of SnO₂ and Ni_1.5-SnO₂; (d) O 1s spectra of SnO₂ and Ni_1.5-SnO₂.

Fig.5 N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms and corresponding pore-size distributions of (a) pure SnO₂ and (b) Ni_1.5-SnO₂ samples.

Fig.6 (a) Temperature–response curves for samples of pure SnO₂, Ni_0.5-SnO₂, Ni_1.0-SnO₂, Ni_1.5-SnO₂, Ni_2.0-SnO₂, and Ni_2.5-SnO₂ to 100 ppm isopropanol. (b) Dynamic resistance curves of pure SnO₂, Ni_0.5-SnO₂, Ni_1.0-SnO₂, Ni_1.5-SnO₂, Ni_2.0-SnO₂, and Ni_2.5-SnO₂ to 100 ppm isopropanol at 225 °C.

Fig.7 Response–recovery curves of (a) pure SnO₂ and (b) Ni_1.5-SnO₂ sensors to isopropanol with the increasing concentration at their respective optimal operating temperatures. Response–recovery curves of (c) pure SnO₂ and (d) Ni_1.5-SnO₂ sensors to 100 ppm isopropanol at the optimal operating temperatures.

Fig.8 The response of SnO₂, Ni_0.5-SnO₂, Ni_1.0-SnO₂, Ni_1.5-SnO₂, Ni_2.0-SnO₂, and Ni_2.5-SnO₂ sensors toward various 100 ppm test gases at the optimal operating temperatures.

Fig.9 Cyclic response curve of the sensor based on Ni_1.5-SnO₂ to 100 ppm isopropanol at the optimal operating temperature.

Fig.10 Long-term stability of the Ni_1.5-SnO₂ sensor to 100 ppm isopropanol at the optimal operating temperature.

Tab.1 Performance comparison of gas-sensing characteristics on various sensing materials toward isopropanol

Fig.11 Schematic diagrams of sensors based on SnO₂ nanorods and Ni-doped SnO₂ nanorods when exposed to isopropanol.

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