Dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) is a common odor pollutant with an extremely low olfactory threshold. Highly sensitive and selective detection of DMDS in ambient humid air background, by metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) sensors, is highly desirable to address the increased public concern for health risk. However, it has still been a critical challenge up to now. Herein, p-type delafossite CuGaO2 has been proposed as a promising DMDS sensing material owing to its striking hydrophobicity (revealed by water contact angle measurement) and excellent partial catalytic oxidation properties (indicated by mass spectroscopy). The present CuGaO2 sensor shows a selective DMDS response, with satisfied humidity resistance performance and long-term stability at a relatively low operation temperature of 140 °C. An ultrahigh response of 100 to 10 ppm DMDS and a low limit of detection of 3.3 ppb could be achieved via a pulsed temperature modulation strategy. A smart sensing system based on a CuGaO2 sensor has been developed, which could precisely monitor DMDS vapor in ambient humid air, even with the presence of multiple interfering gases, demonstrating the practical application capability of MOS sensors for environmental odor monitoring.
Keywords: CuGaO2 nanoparticles; delafossite; dimethyl disulfide sensor; pulsed temperature modulation; sensitivity enhancement.