Porous metal-graphene oxide nanocomposite sensors with high ammonia detectability

Balaji G Ghule; Nanasaheb M Shinde; Siddheshwar D Raut; Shoyebmohamad F Shaikh; Abdullah M Al-Enizi; Kwang Ho Kim; Rajaram S Mane

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2020.12.096

Porous metal-graphene oxide nanocomposite sensors with high ammonia detectability

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 May:589:401-410. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.12.096. Epub 2020 Dec 30.

Authors

Balaji G Ghule¹, Nanasaheb M Shinde², Siddheshwar D Raut¹, Shoyebmohamad F Shaikh³, Abdullah M Al-Enizi⁴, Kwang Ho Kim², Rajaram S Mane⁵

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Nanomaterials and Energy Devices, School of Physical Sciences, Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded 431606, M.S., India.
² National Core Research Centre for Hybrid Materials Solution, Pusan National University, 30, Jangjeon-dong, Geumjung-gu, Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: amenizi@ksu.edu.sa.
⁵ Centre for Nanomaterials and Energy Devices, School of Physical Sciences, Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded 431606, M.S., India; National Core Research Centre for Hybrid Materials Solution, Pusan National University, 30, Jangjeon-dong, Geumjung-gu, Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: rajarammane70@srtmun.ac.in.

PMID: 33482537
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.12.096

Abstract

Nickel oxide-graphene oxide (NiO-GO), zinc oxide-graphene oxide (ZnO-GO) and bismuth oxide-graphene oxide (Bi₂O₃-GO) metal oxide-graphene oxide nanocomposite (MO-GO NC) sensors, operable at room temperature, were synthesized via a simple and cost-effective microwave-assisted combustion method for chemiresistive gas sensor applications. From the measured structural, morphological, and elemental detection properties, the sensors are found capable of detecting various gases. The Bi₂O₃-GO NC sensor exhibited excellent response over NiO-GO (~20 at 50 ppm) and ZnO-GO NC (~60 at 50 ppm) sensors for detecting NH₃. The response of the Bi₂O₃-GO NC sensor at 50 ppm NH₃ in just 14 s operation duration was ~81.23, which is improved 25-fold and 13-fold compared to pristine GO sensors. Additionally, the as-developed Bi₂O₃-GO NC sensor demonstrates outstanding repeatability and recovery kinetics, attributed to porosity and the combined effects of MO and GO. The sensing mechanism of the Bi₂O₃-GO NC gas sensors is proposed herein. The superior sensing performance, including quick response and recovery of the Bi₂O₃-GO NC sensor is attributed to favorable charge transfer across the Bi₂O₃ and GO interface. The significance of relative humidity on sensing potential of the Bi₂O₃-GO NC sensor has also been studied and the sensor is confirmed to be unaffected by relative humidity.

Keywords: Ammonia sensor; Metal-graphene oxide; Structural analysis; Surface morphology; p-n heterojunctions.