A high-performance formaldehyde sensor based on nickel (Ni)-doped indium trioxide (In2O3)/tungsten disulfide (WS2) nanocomposite was demonstrated. An epoxy substrate served as matrix of the Ni-In2O3/WS2 nanocomposite sensor. The material properties of self-assembled Ni-In2O3/WS2 nanoheterostructure were fully characterized and confirmed. The formaldehyde-sensing properties of the Ni-In2O3/WS2 composite were tested at 25 °C. Compared to the In2O3, WS2, and their composite, the Ni-In2O3/WS2 sensor demonstrated significant improvement on the formaldehyde-sensing performance, including a low detection limit of 15 ppb, good selectivity, repeatability, fast detection rate, and a fair logarithmic function toward formaldehyde concentration. The dramatically enhanced sensing performance of Ni-In2O3/WS2 film sensor can be attributed to the Ni ion doping and synergistic interfacial incorporation of In2O3/WS2 heterojunction. The sensitive mechanism of the Ni-In2O3/WS2 film sensor toward formaldehyde is explored through density functional theory (DFT) simulation. This work verified that the synthesis of Ni-doped In2O3/WS2 nanofilm provides a new avenue to develop promising hybrids for formaldehyde sensing.
Keywords: Ni−In2O3/WS2 nanocomposite; density functional theory; formaldehyde sensing; heterojunction; room temperature.