Enhanced acetone gas-sensing characteristics of Pd–NiO nanorods/SnO2 nanowires sensors

Abstract

Acetone is a well-known volatile organic compound that is widely used in different industrial and domestic areas, but it can cause dangerous effects on human health. Thus, the fabrication of highly sensitive and selective sensors for recognition of acetone is incredibly important. Here, we prepared the SnO₂/Pd–NiO (SPN) nanowires-based gas sensor for the detection of acetone, in which, the amount of Pd nanoparticles were varied to enhance the performance of the devices. We demonstrated that the acetone gas sensing performance of the SPN device was significantly enhanced, showing increases of 3.72 and 6.53 folds compared to pristine SnO₂ and NiO sensors, respectively. The Pd–NiO 0.01% wt Pd SPN sensor (SPN-1) exhibited an excellent response (R_a/R_g = 14.88) toward 500 ppm acetone gas. The SPN-1 sensor also showed a fast gas response time of 11/150 seconds with 500 ppm Acetone at 450 °C, while the recovery time was 468/526 seconds. Additionally, the sensor showed good selectivity toward acetone over other reducing gases, such as NH₃, CH₄, and VOCs. With those results, the SPN-1 sensor shows superiority compared to sensors based on pure materials.