Construction of organic-inorganic "chelate" adsorption sites on metal oxide semiconductor for room temperature NO2 sensing

Ultrahigh humidity-resistance ppb-level formaldehyde sensing at room temperature induced by fluorinated dipole based "umbrella" and "bridge"

Formaldehyde (HCHO) is a major indoor pollutant that is extremely harmful to human health even at ppb-level. Meanwhile, ppb-level HCHO is also a potential disease marker in the exhalation of patients with respiratory diseases. Higher humidity resistance and lower practical limit of detection (pLOD) both have to be pursued for practical HCHO sensors. In this work, by assembling indium oxide (In2O3) and fluorinated dipole modified reduced graphene oxide (rGO), we prepared a high-performance room temperature HCHO sensor (In2O3 @ATQ-rGO). Excellent sensing properties toward HCHO under visible illumination have been achieved, including ultra-low pLOD of 3 ppb and high humidity-resistance. By control experiments and density functional theory calculation, it is indicated that the introduced fluorinated dipoles act as not only an "umbrella" to improve the humidity resistance of the composite, but also a "bridge" to accelerate the electron transport, improving the sensitivity of the material. The significant practicality and reliability of the obtained sensors were verified by in-situ simulation experiments using a 3 m3 test chamber with a humidity control system and by detection of the simulated lung disease patient's exhalation. This work provides an effective strategy of simultaneously achieving high humidity-resistance and low pLOD of room temperature formaldehyde sensing materials.

Construction of trace nitric oxide sensors at low temperature based on bulk embedded BiVO4 in SnO2 nanofibers with nano-heterointerfaces

Constructing heterostructures is an effective way to improve the carrier mobility for metal oxide sensing material, since heterojunctions are usually built only on the surface of the material, the carrier transport efficiency inside the material still needs to be improved. In this paper, BiVO4 nanocrystals (BVO NCs) with an average size of 1 nm generated by pulsed laser irradiation were embedded in situ at the particle boundaries (PBs) of SnO2 nanofibers to form an effective n-n heterojunctions inside the material. After embedding the BVO NCs in the SnO2 samples, the response value for 10 ppm NO was improved to 48.91, which was 2.5 times higher than that of pure SnO2 at near room temperature (50 °C). Meanwhile, the detection limit was lowered to 50 ppb with excellent long term stability. Detailed analysis and theoretical calculations demonstrated that the formation of abundant n-n heterojunctions not only promotes the electron-hole separation and the carrier mobility, but also reduces the conductivity and adsorption energy of the material, which significantly improves its sensing performance. This work demonstrates a new approach to modulate the gas-sensing performance of metal oxide semiconductors by generating heterostructure inside the bulk of the material.

Mesoporous and Encapsulated In2O3/Ti3C2Tx Schottky Heterojunctions for Rapid and ppb-Level NO2 Detection at Room Temperature

Rapid and ultrasensitive detection of toxic gases at room temperature is highly desired in health protection but presents grand challenges in the sensing materials reported so far. Here, we present a gas sensor based on novel zero dimensional (0D)/two dimensional (2D) indium oxide (In2O3)/titanium carbide (Ti3C2Tx) Schottky heterostructures with a high surface area and rich oxygen vacancies for parts per billion (ppb) level nitrogen dioxide (NO2) detection at room temperature. The In2O3/Ti3C2Tx gas sensor exhibits a fast response time (4 s), good response (193.45% to 250 ppb NO2), high selectivity, and excellent cycling stability. The rich surface oxygen vacancies play the role of active sites for the adsorption of NO2 molecules, and the Schottky junctions effectively adjust the charge-transfer behavior through the conduction tunnel in the sensing material. Furthermore, In2O3 nanoparticles almost fully cover the Ti3C2Tx nanosheets which can avoid the oxidation of Ti3C2Tx, thus contributing to the good cycling stability of the sensing materials. This work sheds light on the sensing mechanism of heterojunction nanostructures and provides an efficient pathway to construct high-performance gas sensors through the rational design of active sites.

Investigation of adsorption and biosorption features of bio-functionalized poly(GMA-Co-EGDMA) polymer beads in the treatment of nicotine from tobacco industry

The investigation of multifunctional materials for modern enzyme immobilization is an attractive subject in advanced adsorption and biosorption applications. In the present study, the feasibility of immobilization of Lipozyme TL 100L (LPZM) on 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) modified poly-(GMA-co-EGDMA) (PEGDMA) was investigated for adsorption and biosorption of nicotine from aqueous solution. Characterization tests confirmed successful immobilization of lipozyme which significantly altered thermal behavior, surface characteristics, and surface morphology of PEGDMA and PEGDMA/APTES. In addition, the immobilization yields were calculated as 85.0% and 72.0% onto PEGDMA/APTES using physical adsorption and covalent immobilization methods, respectively. The nicotine removal efficiencies were calculated to be 66.4%, 79.0%, 98.9%, and 85.7%, using raw PEGDMA, PEGDMA/APTES, PEGDMA/APTES@LPZM, and PEGDMA/APTES/GU@LPZM, respectively. For the raw PEGDMA, the Langmuir isotherm was best fitted to the adsorption data, while Langmuir-Freundich model described well the adsorption process on PEGDMA/APTES and PEGDMA/APTES@LPZM. The maximum adsorption capacities of Langmuir-Freundlich model increased from 8.118 to 17.32 mg/g after enzyme immobilization. The negative enthalpy value, ΔH° (- 10.37 kJ/mol), revealed that the nicotine adsorption on PEGDMA/APTES@LPZM was exothermic in nature, which was corroborated by the decrease observed in the number of adsorbed molecules with increasing temperature. In the kinetic experiments, the adsorption on PEGDMA and PEGDMA/APTES@LPZM reached equilibrium with the removal percentages as 66.4% and 98.9% at the end of 3 h, respectively. The nicotine adsorption performances in real water matrices were also investigated, and PEGDMA/APTES@LPZM showed satisfactory reusability with removal percentage decreased from 98.9% (1st cycle) to 83.0% (6th cycle).

Large-Area and Visible-Light-Driven Heterojunctions of In2O3/Graphene Built for ppb-Level Formaldehyde Detection at Room Temperature

Achieving convenient and accurate detection of indoor ppb-level formaldehyde is an urgent requirement to ensure a healthy working and living environment for people. Herein, ultrasmall In₂O₃ nanorods and supramolecularly functionalized reduced graphene oxide are selected as hybrid components of visible-light-driven (VLD) heterojunctions to fabricate ppb-level formaldehyde (HCHO) gas sensors (named InAG sensors). Under 405 nm visible light illumination, the sensor exhibits an outstanding response toward ppb-level HCHO at room temperature, including the ultralow practical limit of detection (pLOD) of 5 ppb, high response (R_a/R_g = 2.4, 500 ppb), relatively short response/recovery time (119 s/179 s, 500 ppb), high selectivity, and long-term stability. The ultrasensitive room temperature HCHO-sensing property is derived from visible-light-driven and large-area heterojunctions between ultrasmall In₂O₃ nanorods and supramolecularly functionalized graphene nanosheets. The performance of the actual detection toward HCHO is evaluated in a 3 m³ test chamber, confirming the practicability and reliability of the InAG sensor. This work provides an effective strategy for the development of low-power-consumption ppb-level gas sensors.

Amine-Functionalized Black Phosphorus Nanosheets toward Ultrafast and Room-Temperature Trace Carbon Dioxide Sensing

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) poses a significant effect on global climate, indoor activity, and crop yield, thus necessitating real-time and high-performance detection. Traditional CO₂-sensing materials always suffer from weak and sluggish reaction, elevated operation temperature, and poor detection limit. To surmount these obstacles, in this work a series of amine-rich polymer functionalized black phosphorus nanosheets (BP) were prepared for room-temperature CO₂ detection. Superior to TMMAP or 3-DEAPTES modified counterparts, the BP-10% APTES sensor delivered a response of 28.5% and ultrafast response/recovery time of 4.7 s/4.8 s toward 10 ppm of CO₂ under 36% RH at 22 °C, a lowest detection limit of 5 ppm, as well as excellent selectivity. Also, a nice repeatability and long-term operation stability were demonstrated. Thus, BP-APTES composites offer a promising strategy for high-performance CO₂ detection in terms of high sensitivity, low power-consumption, and convenient fabrication, and showcase brilliant prospects in portable optoelectronic detection systems and the Internet of Things.

Controllable construction of ZnFe2O4-based micro-nano heterostructure for the rapid detection and degradation of VOCs

Micro-nano heterogeneous oxides have received extensive attention due to their distinctive physicochemical properties. However, it is a challenge to prepare the hierarchical multicomponent metal oxide nanomaterials with abundant heterogeneous interfaces in a controllable way. In this work, the effective construction of the heterogeneous structure of the material is achieved by regulating the ratio of metal salts under thermal solvent condition. Three-dimensional spheres (ZnFe₂O₄) constructed by zero-dimensional ultra-small nanoparticles, in particular three-dimensional hollow sea urchin spheres (ZnO/ZnFe₂O₄) constructed by one-dimensional nanorods and three-dimensional hydrangeas (α-Fe₂O₃/ZnFe₂O₄) assembled by two-dimensional nanosheets were obtained. The two composite materials contain a large number of heterojunctions, which enhances the sensitivity of material to volatile organic compounds gas. Among them, the α-Fe₂O₃/ZnFe₂O₄ composite shows the best sensing performance for VOCs. For example, its response to 100 ppm acetone reaches 142 at 170 °C with the response time shortened to 3 s and the detection limit falling to 10 ppb. Meanwhile, the composite material presents a degradation rate of more than 90% for VOCs at a flow rate of 20 mL/min at 170 °C. In addition, the sensing and sensitivity mechanism of the composite material are studied in detail by combining GC-MS, XPS with UV diffuse reflectance tests.