Electrospun In2O3/α-Fe2O3 heterostructure nanotubes for highly sensitive gas sensor applications

In2O3/α-Fe2O3 (IFO) heterostructure nanotubes, with cubic-In2O3 nanocrystals randomly distributed on the surface of α-Fe2O3 nanotube-based backbones, were successfully prepared through a facile single-capillary electrospinning method. The morphologies of the resulting electrospun products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The crystal structures and components were determined by X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive X-ray spectra, respectively. The results show that the morphology and structure of the products could be tailored by changing the content of indium nitrate in the precursor solutions and the calcination temperatures. Moreover, the IFO-0.1 (In/Fe = 1 : 9, molar ratio) nanotubes based sensor shows a high sensitivity to ethanol with a fast response/recovery time, and the performance is stable at a low operating temperature, which gives a potential application in ethanol gas sensors. A possible gas sensing mechanism based on the role of In2O3 in such a heterostructure is also discussed in detail.

[1]  Jun Chen,et al.  α‐Fe2O3 Nanotubes in Gas Sensor and Lithium‐Ion Battery Applications , 2005 .

[2]  P. Siciliano,et al.  Structural distinctions of Fe2O3-In2O3 composites obtained by various sol-gel procedures, and their gas-sensing features , 2007 .

[3]  Martin Moskovits,et al.  CHEMICAL SENSING AND CATALYSIS BY ONE-DIMENSIONAL METAL-OXIDE NANOSTRUCTURES , 2004 .

[4]  A. Khoury,et al.  Magnetic Properties of Hematite Nanotubes Elaborated by Electrospinning Process , 2011 .

[5]  Yang-Kyu Choi,et al.  Chemical sensors based on nanostructured materials , 2007 .

[6]  A. Khoury,et al.  Iron-based 1D nanostructures by electrospinning process , 2010, Nanotechnology.

[7]  Yong Xu,et al.  The absolute energy positions of conduction and valence bands of selected semiconducting minerals , 2000 .

[8]  Younan Xia,et al.  V2O5 nanorods on TiO2 nanofibers: a new class of hierarchical nanostructures enabled by electrospinning and calcination. , 2006, Nano letters.

[9]  N. Bârsan,et al.  Conduction Model of Metal Oxide Gas Sensors , 2001 .

[10]  B. Liu,et al.  Enhanced ethanol sensing properties based on α-Fe2O3/In2O3 hollow microspheres , 2012, Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics.

[11]  M. V. Rao,et al.  Transport, magnetic and structural properties of bulk In2-xFexO3 , 2010 .

[12]  Teng Fei,et al.  Three-dimensional hierarchical flowerlike α-Fe2O3 nanostructures: synthesis and ethanol-sensing properties. , 2011, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[13]  Peng Gao,et al.  Synthesis and enhanced ethanol sensing characteristics of α-Fe2O3/SnO2 core–shell nanorods , 2009, Nanotechnology.

[14]  Zhen Jin,et al.  Metal Oxide Nanostructures and Their Gas Sensing Properties: A Review , 2012, Sensors.

[15]  Changhui Zhao,et al.  Enhanced ethanol sensing performance of porous ultrathin NiO nanosheets with neck-connected networks , 2013 .

[16]  Guozhong Cao,et al.  Template-free solvothermal synthesis of hollow hematite spheres and their applications in gas sensors and Li-ion batteries , 2011 .

[17]  Xizhi Fan,et al.  Formation mechanism of Fe2O3 hollow fibers by direct annealing of the electrospun composite fibers and their magnetic, electrochemical properties , 2011 .

[18]  M. Cao,et al.  Synthesis and enhanced ethanol sensing properties of α-Fe2O3/ZnO heteronanostructures , 2009 .

[19]  L. Diamandescu,et al.  Mechanochemical synthesis and characterization of xIn2O3·(1 − x)α-Fe2O3 nanostructure system , 2011 .

[20]  Soonhyun Kim,et al.  Preparation of mesoporous In2O3 nanofibers by electrospinning and their application as a CO gas sensor , 2010 .

[21]  Ce Wang,et al.  Electrospinning route for α-Fe2O3 ceramic nanofibers and their gas sensing properties , 2009 .

[22]  Michael Tiemann,et al.  Porous metal oxides as gas sensors. , 2007, Chemistry.

[23]  R. P. Gupta,et al.  Oxide Materials for Development of Integrated Gas Sensors—A Comprehensive Review , 2004 .

[24]  Jun Zhang,et al.  Facile Synthesis of Porous α-Fe2O3 Nanorods and Their Application in Ethanol Sensors , 2008 .

[25]  B. Liu,et al.  Controlled synthesis and gas-sensing properties of hollow sea urchin-like α-Fe2O3 nanostructures and α-Fe2O3 nanocubes , 2009 .

[26]  S. Musić,et al.  Chemical and structural properties of the system Fe2O3-In2O3 , 1991 .

[27]  C. Körber,et al.  Nature of the band gap of In2O3 revealed by first-principles calculations and x-ray spectroscopy. , 2008, Physical review letters.

[28]  J. H. Lee,et al.  Gas sensors using hierarchical and hollow oxide nanostructures: Overview , 2009 .

[29]  Jaephil Cho,et al.  Spindle-like mesoporous α-Fe₂O₃ anode material prepared from MOF template for high-rate lithium batteries. , 2012, Nano letters.

[30]  G. Lu,et al.  Synthesis and gas sensing properties of bundle-like α-Fe2O3 nanorods , 2011 .

[31]  Xiu-juan Xu,et al.  Fabrication of N-type Fe2O3 and P-type LaFeO3 nanobelts by electrospinning and determination of gas-sensing properties , 2011 .

[32]  Y. Luan,et al.  In(OH)3 particles from an ionic liquid precursor and their conversion to porous In2O3 particles for enhanced gas sensing properties , 2013 .

[33]  Il-Doo Kim,et al.  Nanostructured metal oxide gas sensors prepared by electrospinning , 2011 .

[34]  G. Korotcenkov,et al.  Instability of metal oxide-based conductometric gas sensors and approaches to stability improvement (short survey) , 2011 .

[35]  D. Mehandjiev,et al.  Ozone Decomposition on α-Fe2O3 Catalyst , 1992 .

[36]  M. Ivanovskaya,et al.  Influence of chemical composition and structural factors of Fe2O3/In2O3 sensors on their selectivity and sensitivity to ethanol☆ , 2003 .

[37]  K. Braeckmans,et al.  Stimuli-responsive electrospun fibers and their applications. , 2011, Chemical Society reviews.

[38]  N. Bârsan,et al.  Metal oxide-based gas sensor research: How to? , 2007 .

[39]  S. Komarneni,et al.  Role of α‐Fe2O3 Morphology on the Color of Red Pigment for Porcelain , 2003 .

[40]  Dianzeng Jia,et al.  Low-heating solid-state synthesis and excellent gas-sensing properties of α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles , 2013 .