Enhanced ammonia sensing at room temperature with reduced graphene oxide/tin oxide hybrid films

Sensitive and selective detection of ammonia at room temperature is required for proper environmental monitoring and also to avoid any health hazards in the industrial areas. The excellent electrical properties of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and sensing capabilities of SnO2 were combined to achieve enhanced ammonia sensitivity. RGO–SnO2 films were synthesized hydrothermally as well as prepared by mixing different amounts of hydrothermally synthesized SnO2 nanoparticles with graphene oxide (GO). It was observed that the response of the hybrid sensing layer was considerably better than intrinsic RGO or SnO2. However, the best performance was observed in the 10 : 8 (RGO–SnO2) sample. The sample was exposed to nine different concentrations of ammonia in the presence of 20% RH at room temperature. The response of the sensor varied from 1.4 times (25 ppm) to 22 times (2800 ppm) with quick recovery after purging with air. The composite formation was verified by characterizing the samples using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The results and their significance have been discussed in detail.

[1]  Aaas News,et al.  Book Reviews , 1893, Buffalo Medical and Surgical Journal.

[2]  S. Phanichphant,et al.  Semiconducting metal oxides as sensors for environmentally hazardous gases , 2011 .

[3]  Samit K. Ray,et al.  Highly sensitive large-area multi-layered graphene-based flexible ammonia sensor , 2014 .

[4]  P. Dalton,et al.  Odor and irritation thresholds for ammonia: a comparison between static and dynamic olfactometry. , 2007, Chemical senses.

[5]  A. Berg,et al.  Ammonia sensors and their applications - a review , 2005 .

[6]  C. Betty,et al.  Reliability studies of highly sensitive and specific multi-gas sensor based on nanocrystalline SnO2 film , 2014 .

[7]  Yang Li,et al.  Tin oxide/graphene composite fabricated via a hydrothermal method for gas sensors working at room temperature , 2012 .

[8]  Yizhao Li,et al.  Solid-state synthesis of SnO2–graphene nanocomposite for photocatalysis and formaldehyde gas sensing , 2014 .

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

[10]  Hao Zhang,et al.  SnO2 nanoparticles-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites for NO2 sensing at low operating temperature , 2014 .

[11]  P. K. Guha,et al.  Chemically reduced graphene oxide for ammonia detection at room temperature. , 2013, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[12]  K. Leung,et al.  Controlled Growth of Monodisperse Nanocrystallites in Tin(IV) Oxide Nanofilms , 2011 .

[13]  G. G. Stokes.  "J." , 1890, The New Yale Book of Quotations.

[14]  J. Grunwaldt,et al.  W/Mo-Oxide Nanomaterials: Structure−Property Relationships and Ammonia-Sensing Studies† , 2010 .

[15]  Ke Dai,et al.  Highly selective n-butanol gas sensor based on mesoporous SnO2 prepared with hydrothermal treatment , 2014 .

[16]  Andre K. Geim,et al.  The rise of graphene. , 2007, Nature materials.

[17]  R. Ruoff,et al.  Toward practical gas sensing with highly reduced graphene oxide: a new signal processing method to circumvent run-to-run and device-to-device variations. , 2011, ACS nano.

[18]  K. Novoselov,et al.  Detection of individual gas molecules adsorbed on graphene. , 2006, Nature materials.

[19]  Il-Doo Kim,et al.  Selective detection of acetone and hydrogen sulfide for the diagnosis of diabetes and halitosis using SnO(2) nanofibers functionalized with reduced graphene oxide nanosheets. , 2014, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[20]  Zhigang Chen,et al.  Highly aligned SnO2 nanorods on graphene sheets for gas sensors , 2011 .

[21]  R. Parret,et al.  Detection of O3 and NH3 using hybrid tin dioxide/carbon nanotubes sensors: Influence of materials and processing on sensor's sensitivity , 2012 .

[22]  Xintang Huang,et al.  Design of SnO2–based highly sensitive ethanol gas sensor based on quasi molecular-cluster imprinting mechanism , 2015 .

[23]  Jing Yang,et al.  Normal-pressure microwave rapid synthesis of hierarchical SnO₂@rGO nanostructures with superhigh surface areas as high-quality gas-sensing and electrochemical active materials. , 2014, Nanoscale.

[24]  Dongzhi Zhang,et al.  Room-temperature high-performance acetone gas sensor based on hydrothermal synthesized SnO2-reduced graphene oxide hybrid composite , 2015 .

[25]  C. Pijolat,et al.  Tin dioxide gas sensor as a tool for atmospheric pollution monitoring: Problems and possibilities for improvements , 2003 .

[26]  Junhong Chen,et al.  Tuning gas-sensing properties of reduced graphene oxide using tin oxide nanocrystals , 2012 .

[27]  G. Neri,et al.  Sensing behavior of SnO2/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites toward NO2 , 2013 .

[28]  X. Tang,et al.  Effective reduction of graphene oxide thin films by a fluorinating agent: Diethylaminosulfur trifluoride , 2014 .

[29]  Nguyen Van Toan,et al.  Comparative NO2 gas-sensing performance of the self-heated individual, multiple and networked SnO2 nanowire sensors fabricated by a simple process , 2014 .