Abstract
SnO2-impregnated zeolite composites were used as gas-sensing materials to improve the sensitivity and selectivity of the metal oxide-based resistive-type gas sensors. Nanocrystalline MFI type zeolite (ZSM-5) was prepared by hydrothermal synthesis. Highly dispersive SnO2 nanoparticles were then successfully assembled on the surface of the ZSM-5 nanoparticles by using the impregnation methods. The SnO2 nanoparticles are nearly spherical with the particle size of ~ 10 nm. An enhanced formaldehyde sensing of as-synthesized SnO2-ZSM-5-based sensor was observed whereas a suppression on the sensor response to other volatile organic vapors (VOCs) such as acetone, ethanol, and methanol was noticed. The possible reasons for this contrary observation were proposed to be related to the amount of the produced water vapor during the sensing reactions assisted by the ZSM-5 nanoparticles. This provides a possible new strategy to improve the selectivity of the gas sensors. The effect of the humidity on the sensor response to formaldehyde was investigated and it was found the higher humidity would decrease the sensor response. A coating layer of the ZSM-5 nanoparticles on top of the SnO2-ZSM-5-sensing film was thus applied to further improve the sensitivity and selectivity of the sensor through the strong adsorption ability to polar gases and the “filtering effect” by the pores of ZSM-5.
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This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Numbers 61574025, 61474012, and 61501081; the Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province under Grant Number 2015020096; and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities under the Grant Number DC201501062. Among these funding, Yanhui Sun is the director of funding of DC201501062, and Haiying Du is the director of funding of 61501081 and 2015020096. Jing Wang and Xiaogan Li are the directors of funding 61574025 and 61474012, respectively.
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SEM images of the commercial SnO2 (DOCX 570 kb)
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Sun, Y., Wang, J., Li, X. et al. The improvement of gas-sensing properties of SnO2/zeolite-assembled composite. J Nanopart Res 20, 134 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-018-4240-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-018-4240-4