Peony‐like Na 2 Mg(CO 3 ) 2 : a nanomaterial with the characteristic of high sensitivity and rapid response for the detection of alcohols

Alcohol has a potential health risk to human health, so it is important to realise the rapid detection of alcohols. Based on this, the nano Na2Mg(CO3)2 was prepared by a simple hydrothermal method to establish a cataluminescence (CTL) gas sensor for alcohols. The Na2Mg(CO3)2with highly purified quality was characterised by scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectroscopy and the powder X-ray diffraction. The results show that the nano Na2Mg(CO3)2 is a peony-like substance with a large surface area, which will be beneficial to produce ultra-weak chemiluminescence reaction between the detector and the material. The peony-like Na2Mg(CO3)2 has good CTL response to alcohols (methanol, ethanol, n-propanol and n-butanol), showing high selectivity. The response time of Na2Mg(CO3)2 for four alcohols is between 1 and 2 s, which indicate that the material has the advantage of rapid response. The limit of detection of four alcohols defined as 3 N/S is about 7.91, 4.75, 6.69 and 8.10 mg/l, respectively. The optimum reaction conditions of the gas sensor based on nano Na2Mg(CO3)2 are mild and this nanomaterial can be used for alcohol detection.