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Mesoporous tungsten trioxide for highly sensitive and selective detection of ammonia

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Abstract

The sensing performance of a mixed-potential NH3 sensor is dependent on the microstructure of its electrode, which can be optimized to enhance the adsorption and diffusion of target gases. Mesoporous tungsten trioxide was prepared using an effective hard template method and applied as a sensitive electrode in a yttria-stabilized zirconia electrolyte-based mixed-potential NH3 gas sensor. The NH3 detection of the sensor was investigated in a temperature range of 250–650 °C. The sensor exhibited a much better NH3 sensing performance than another sensor based on commercial bulk WO3 under the same conditions. Furthermore, the NH3 sensor based on mesoporous WO3 exhibited a logarithmic response to the NH3 concentration (30–250 ppm). To investigate this response, the specialized microstructure of mesoporous WO3 was observed by transmission electron microscopy. Specifically, the high surface area and well-defined mesopores of the material significantly contributed to the excellent sensing performance. This report provides the first demonstration of the excellent response and sensitivity of an NH3 sensor based on mesoporous WO3 at low temperatures (250–400 °C).

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Abbreviations

SE:

Sensing electrode

TPB:

Triple-phase boundary

TPD:

Temperature-programmed desorption

YSZ:

Yttria-stabilized zirconia

XRD:

X-ray diffraction

TCD:

Thermal conductivity detector

SEM:

Scanning electron microscope

EDS:

Energy-dispersive spectrometer

BET:

Brunauer–Emmett–Teller

BJH:

Barrett–Joyner–Halenda

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (No. ZR2019BEM036), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51808328), and Major Scientific and Technological Innovation Project of Shandong (Nos. 2018CXGC1406, 2019JZZY010457 and 2019JZZY020309).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Materials Institute, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, 250014, People’s Republic of China

    Jingjing Zhang

  2. Shandong Institute for Product Quality Inspection, Jinan, 250102, People’s Republic of China

    Chenyi Zhang

  3. Shanghai Institute of Technology, 100 Haiquan Road, Shanghai, 201418, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaohong Zheng & Cheng Zhang

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  1. Jingjing Zhang
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Zhang, J., Zhang, C., Zheng, X. et al. Mesoporous tungsten trioxide for highly sensitive and selective detection of ammonia. J Mater Sci 56, 4172–4183 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05534-1

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