Transition metal elements-doped SnO2 for ultrasensitive and rapid ppb-level formaldehyde sensing

Zejun Han; Yunxiang Tang; Guixia Lu; Yuan Qi; Hao Wu; Zhengyi Yang; Hecheng Han; Xue Zhang; Lili Wu; Zhou Wang; Jiurong Liu; Fenglong Wang

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13486

Transition metal elements-doped SnO₂ for ultrasensitive and rapid ppb-level formaldehyde sensing

Heliyon. 2023 Feb 4;9(2):e13486. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13486. eCollection 2023 Feb.

Authors

Zejun Han¹, Yunxiang Tang¹, Guixia Lu², Yuan Qi¹, Hao Wu³, Zhengyi Yang¹, Hecheng Han¹, Xue Zhang¹, Lili Wu¹, Zhou Wang¹, Jiurong Liu¹, Fenglong Wang^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250061, China.
² School of Civil Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266033, China.
³ School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
⁴ Shenzhen Research Institute of Shandong University, A301 Virtual University Park in South District of Nanshan High-tech Zone, Shenzhen, China.

Abstract

Pristine SnO₂, Fe-doped SnO₂ and Ni-doped SnO₂ were synthesized using facile hydrothermal method. Analysis based on XRD, TEM and UV-Vis DRS measurements demonstrated the successful insertion of Fe and Ni dopants into SnO₂ crystal. Formaldehyde-detection measurements revealed that transition metal-doped SnO₂ exhibited improved formaldehyde-sensing properties compared with that of pristine SnO₂. When the amount of incorporated dopant (Fe or Ni) was 4 at.%, the most effective enhancement on sensing performance of SnO₂ was obtained. At 160 °C, the 4 at.% Fe-SnO₂ and 4 at.% Ni-SnO₂ exhibited higher response values of 7.52 and 4.37 with exposure to low-concentration formaldehyde, respectively, which were 2.4 and 1.4 times higher than that of pristine SnO₂. The change of electronic structure and crystal structure as well as catalytic effect of transition metals are chiefly responsible for the enhanced sensing properties.

Keywords: Catalytic effect; Crystal structure; Electronic structure; Fe and Ni dopants; Formaldehyde sensing; SnO2.