Construction of flower-like ZnSnO3/Zn2SnO4 hybrids for enhanced phenylamine sensing performance

Abstract

In this work, flower-like ZnSnO₃/Zn₂SnO₄ (perovskite/spinel) heterostructures were synthesized via facile co-precipitation and subsequent hydrothermal treatment. The crystallographic structure, microstructure and chemical composition of samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM and XPS, respectively. To further investigate the sensing performance of samples, pure ZnSnO₃ and ZnSnO₃/Zn₂SnO₄ sensors also were fabricated. Results showed that the ZnSnO₃/Zn₂SnO₄ sensor exhibited a high response of 12.1 to 20 ppm phenylamine, which is about 3.7 times that of a pure ZnSnO₃ sensor. Furthermore, the ZnSnO₃/Zn₂SnO₄ sensor showed rapid response/recovery speed (1 s/20 s), a low detection limit (50 ppb), superior selectivity, anti-humidity properties, reproducibility and long-term stability. Based on this sensing performance, it can serve as an ideal candidate material for detecting highly toxic phenylamine.