Construction of In2O3/ZnO yolk-shell nanofibers for room-temperature NO2 detection under UV illumination

Chaohan Han; Xiaowei Li; Yu Liu; Xinghua Li; Changlu Shao; Jisong Ri; Jiangang Ma; Yichun Liu

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124093

Construction of In₂O₃/ZnO yolk-shell nanofibers for room-temperature NO₂ detection under UV illumination

J Hazard Mater. 2021 Feb 5:403:124093. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124093. Epub 2020 Sep 25.

Authors

Chaohan Han¹, Xiaowei Li², Yu Liu¹, Xinghua Li¹, Changlu Shao³, Jisong Ri⁴, Jiangang Ma¹, Yichun Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of UV-Emitting Materials and Technology of Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun 130024, People's Republic of China.
² Key Laboratory of UV-Emitting Materials and Technology of Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun 130024, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: lixw447@nenu.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of UV-Emitting Materials and Technology of Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun 130024, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: clshao@nenu.edu.cn.
⁴ Faculty of Material Science and Engineering, Kimchaek University of Technology, Pyongyang 950003, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

PMID: 33265068
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124093

Abstract

Room-temperature gas sensors have emerged as effective platforms for sensing explosive or toxic gases in ambient environment. However, room-temperature gas sensor usually suffers from extremely poor sensitivity and sluggish response/recovery characteristics due to the low reacting activity at low temperature. Herein, we present a room-temperature NO₂ sensor with greatly enhanced sensitivity and rapid response/recovery speed under ultraviolet (UV) illumination. The sensor based on In₂O₃/ZnO yolk-shell nanofibers exhibits remarkable sensitivity (R_g/R_a = 6.0) to 1 ppm NO₂ and rapid response/recovery time (≤36, 68 s) under UV illumination, obviously better than negligible sensing performance and inefficient response/recovery properties in dark condition. Such excellent gas sensing properties of the In₂O₃/ZnO yolk-shell nanofibers were not only attributed to the improved photo-generated charge separation efficiency derived from the effect of heterojunction, but also related to the enhanced receptor function towards NO₂ endowed by increased reactive sites and gas adsorption. These proposed strategies will provide a reference for developing high-performance room-temperature gas sensors.

Keywords: In(2)O(3)/ZnO; NO(2) sensor; Room-temperature; UV illumination; Yolk-shell nanofibers.

Publication types

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