A graphene/TiS3 heterojunction for resistive sensing of polar vapors at room temperature

Nassim Rafiefard; Azam Iraji Zad; Ali Esfandiar; Pezhman Sasanpour; Somayeh Fardindoost; Yichao Zou; Sarah J Haigh; Seyed Hossein Hosseini Shokouh

doi:10.1007/s00604-019-4097-y

A graphene/TiS₃ heterojunction for resistive sensing of polar vapors at room temperature

Mikrochim Acta. 2020 Jan 10;187(2):117. doi: 10.1007/s00604-019-4097-y.

Authors

Nassim Rafiefard¹, Azam Iraji Zad^{2

3}, Ali Esfandiar⁴, Pezhman Sasanpour^{5

6}, Somayeh Fardindoost⁴, Yichao Zou⁷, Sarah J Haigh⁷, Seyed Hossein Hosseini Shokouh⁸

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 14588-89694, Tehran, Iran.
² Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 14588-89694, Tehran, Iran. Iraji@sharif.edu.
³ Department of Physics, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 11155-9161, Tehran, Iran. Iraji@sharif.edu.
⁴ Department of Physics, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 11155-9161, Tehran, Iran.
⁵ Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 1985717443, Tehran, Iran.
⁶ School of Nanoscience, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), P. O. Box 19395-5531, Tehran, Iran.
⁷ School of Materials, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
⁸ Department of Physics, Iran University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 13114-16846, Tehran, Iran.

PMID: 31925565
DOI: 10.1007/s00604-019-4097-y

Abstract

The room temperature polar vapor sensing behavior of a graphene-TiS₃ heterojunction material and TiS₃ nanoribbons is described. The nanoribbons were synthesized via chemical vapor transport (CVT) and their structure was investigated by scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies. The gas sensing performance was assessed by following the changes in their resistivities. Sensing devices were fabricated with gold contacts and with lithographically patterned graphene (Gr) electrodes in a heterojunction Gr-TiS₃-Gr. The gold contacted TiS₃ device has a rather linear I-V behavior while the Gr-TiS₃-Gr heterojunction forms a contact with a higher Schottky barrier (250 meV). The I-V responses of the sensors were recorded at room temperature at a relative humidity of 55% and for different ethanol vapor concentrations (varying from 2 to 20 ppm). The plots indicate an increase in the resistance of Gr-TiS₃-Gr due to adsorption of water and ethanol with a relatively high sensing response (~495% at 2 ppm). The results reveal that stable responses to 2 ppm concentrations of ethanol are achieved at room temperature. The response and recovery times are around 8 s and 72 s, respectively. Weaker responses are obtained for methanol and acetone. Graphical abstract Schematic representation of resistance sensor for detection of low concentration of ethanol vapor. The graphene and TiS₃ nanoribbons were synthesized using chemical vapor deposition and chemical vapor transport technique respectively. The 2D graphene/TiS₃ heterojunction device was fabricated to make a high response sensor due to their synergy effect.

Keywords: 2D and 1D semiconductors; 2D layered materials; Chemical vapor deposition (CVD); Chemical vapor transport (CVT); Gas sensor; Graphene; Nanocomposite; Titanium trisulfide; Transition metal trichalcogenides (TMTCs); Tunable Schottky barrier; VOC sensor; Van der Waals heterostructures.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding