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Al-doped ZnO/WO3 heterostructure films prepared by magnetron sputtering for isopropanol sensors

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Abstract

Metal oxide semiconductors (MOSs) are ideal sensing materials for detecting volatile organic compounds due to their low cost, diversity, high stability, and ease of production. However, it remains a grand challenge to develop the MOSs-based gas sensors for sensing isopropanol with desired performance via a simple, effective, and controllable method. Herein, we reported the preparation of the Al-doped ZnO (AZO)/WO3 heterostructure films by directly depositing the AZO coating onto the WO3 coating using a strategy of magnetron sputtering. The AZO/WO3 heterostructure films were constructed by numbers of irregular nanoparticles that were interconnected with each other. The AZO/WO3 heterostructure films-based gas sensors exhibited excellent isopropanol-sensing performance with high response, promising selectivity, low detection limit, fast response rate, wide detection range, and ideal reproducibility. The promising isopropanol-sensing performance of the AZO/WO3 heterostructure films arises mainly from their high uniformity, unique microstructures with high surface roughness, and the construction of the heterostructure between the AZO and WO3 coatings. This work provides a versatile approach to prepare the MOSs-based heterostructure films for assembling the gas sensors.

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摘要

金属氧化物半导体(MOSs)因其成本低、种类多、稳定性高和容易生产的特点, 是检测挥发性有机化合物的理想传感材料。然而, 如何通过简单、有效和可控的方法开发出具有理想性能的基于MOSs的异丙醇传感气体传感器, 仍然是一个巨大的挑战。在此, 我们报告了通过使用磁控溅射法将AZO薄膜直接沉积到WO3薄膜上, 制备了Al掺杂的ZnO (AZO) /WO3异质结构薄膜。AZO/WO3异质结构薄膜是由许多相互连接的不规则纳米颗粒构成的。基于AZO/WO3异质结构薄膜的气体传感器表现出优异的异丙醇传感性能, 具有高响应性、高选择性、低检测限、快响应率、宽检测范围和理想的重现性。AZO/WO3异质结构薄膜具有良好的异丙醇传感性能, 主要源于其高均匀性、具有高表面粗糙度的独特微结构以及AZO和WO3涂层之间的异质结构构造。这项工作为基于MOSs异质结构薄膜的气体传感器组装提供了一种通用的方法。

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52172094 and 22209105), Shanghai Municipal Natural Science Foundation (No. 21ZR1426700) and the “Shuguang” Program of Shanghai Education Commission (No. 19SG46).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Logistics Engineering, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai, 201306, China

    Wei-Xiang Gao, Xiao-Jie Zhu, Jun-Feng Li & Chuan-Xiao Yang

  2. College of Ocean Science and Engineering, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai, 201306, China

    Xue-Ting Chang, Ying-Chang Jiang & Dong-Sheng Wang

  3. Institute of Logistics Science and Engineering, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai, 201306, China

    Shi-Bin Sun

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  1. Wei-Xiang Gao
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Gao, WX., Chang, XT., Zhu, XJ. et al. Al-doped ZnO/WO3 heterostructure films prepared by magnetron sputtering for isopropanol sensors. Rare Met. 43, 247–256 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-023-02406-w

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