Abstract
NiO/NiWO4 composite yolk-shell spheres with a nanoscale NiO outer layer were prepared using one-pot ultrasonic spray pyrolysis and their gas sensing characteristics were studied. The NiO/NiWO4 yolk-shell spheres exhibited an extremely high response to 5 ppm p-xylene (ratio of resistance to gas and air = 343.5) and negligible cross-responses to 5 ppm ethanol, ammonia, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and benzene, whereas pure NiO yolk-shell spheres showed very low responses and selectivity to all the analyte gases. The detection limit for p-xylene was as low as 22.7 ppb. This ultrasensitive and selective detection of p-xylene is attributed to a synergistic catalytic effect between NiO and NiWO4, high gas accessibility with large specific surface area, and increased chemiresistive variation due to the formation of a heterojunction. The NiO/NiWO4 yolk-shell spheres with a thin NiO outer layer can be used to detect subppm-level p-xylene in a highly sensitive and selective manner for monitoring indoor air pollution.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 32034-32043 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 37 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2017 Sept 20 |
Keywords
- NiO/NiWO
- gas sensor
- heterostructure
- mesopore
- p-xylene
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Materials Science(all)