Topological insulator Bi2Se3 for highly sensitive, selective and anti-humidity gas sensors

Bingsheng Du; Wei Kang; Yong He; Yan Wang; Xi Yang; Gang Meng; Zetao Zhu; Xiaohui Lin; Yiling Tan; Chengyao Liang; Xuezheng Guo; Jikang Jian; Yongcai Guo; Miao Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.106387

Topological insulator Bi₂Se₃ for highly sensitive, selective and anti-humidity gas sensors

iScience. 2023 Mar 11;26(4):106387. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106387. eCollection 2023 Apr 21.

Authors

Bingsheng Du^{1

2}, Wei Kang¹, Yong He¹, Yan Wang¹, Xi Yang², Gang Meng³, Zetao Zhu⁴, Xiaohui Lin⁵, Yiling Tan², Chengyao Liang^{1

2}, Xuezheng Guo^{1

2}, Jikang Jian⁶, Yongcai Guo¹, Miao Zhou¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Technology & System (Ministry of Education), College of Optoelectronic Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
² Institute of Chemical Materials, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic and Energy Conservation Materials, Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.
⁴ Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan.
⁵ Shandong Key Laboratory of Biophysics, Institute of Biophysics, Dezhou University, Dezhou 253023, China.
⁶ School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.

Abstract

Chemiresistive gas sensors generally surfer from low selectivity, inferior anti-humidity, low response signal or signal-to-noise ratio, severely limiting the precise detection of chemical agents. Herein, we exploit high-performance gas sensors based on topological insulator Bi₂Se₃ that is distinguished from conventional materials by robust metallic surface states protected by time-reversal symmetry. In the presence of Se vacancies, Bi₂Se₃ nanosheets exhibit excellent gas sensing capability toward NO₂, with a high response of 93% for 50 ppm and an ultralow theoretical limit of detection concentration about 0.06 ppb at room temperature. Remarkably, Bi₂Se₃ demonstrates ultrahigh anti-humidity interference characteristics, as the response with standard deviation of only 3.63% can be achieved in relative humidity range of 0-80%. These findings are supported by first-principles calculations, with analyses on adsorption energy and charge transfer directly revealing the anti-humidity and selectivity. This work may pave the way for implementation of exotic quantum states for intelligent applications.

Keywords: Condensed matter properties; Sensor; Structural property of matter.