Triethylamine (TEA) is a widely used volatile organic chemical, which is harmful and can cause headache, dizziness, and respiratory discomfort. Developing an efficient sensor to detect trace amounts of TEA is significant for industrial and healthcare monitoring. In this work, SnO2 with a three-dimensional ordered macroporous structure (3DOM) was prepared through a polymethylmethacrylate sphere template route. The TEA sensing performance of the 3DOM SnO2 was enhanced through Pt loading. Aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy images and X-ray absorption fine-structure analysis indicate that Pt on the 3DOM 0.20% Pt/SnO2 surface mainly exists in the state of atomic dispersion, which results in more active sites, higher Hall mobility and active oxygen contents, and lower response energy barriers. The 0.20% Pt/SnO2 sensor has a low operating temperature of 80 °C and a low limit of detection (0.32 ppb). Because of the uniform adsorption of TEA on the atomically dispersed Pt, the 3DOM Pt/SnO2 sensor exhibits high selectivity.
Keywords: Pt; SnO2; atomic dispersion; gas sensor; ordered macroporous structure; triethylamine.