Self-assembled SnO₂ colloidal particles and their gas sensing performance to H₂, C₂H₅OH and LPG

Abstract

Using organo-tin Sn(OC₄H₉)₄ as precursor, sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS) and SDS-gelatin (SDS-G) complex as template, two tin dioxide colloidal particles were prepared by a self-assembly method. Both SnO₂ products were respectively labelled SnO₂-B particles with SDS and SnO₂-C particles with SDS-G, which are applied in fabricating SnO₂ gas sensors corresponding to SnO₂-B′ and SnO₂-C′ sensors. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and thermogravimetry and different thermal analysis (TG/DTA) were used for characterizations. The experimental results show that SnO₂-B colloidal particles are composed of mesoporous piece-like particles, while SnO₂-C particles mainly consist of spherical particles. Gas sensing measurements show that SnO₂-B′ sensor performs the best sensing response to all target gases, including H₂, C₂H₅OH and liquid petroleum gas (LPG). In particular, the sensing response of SnO₂-B′ sensor is achieved at 32 in H₂ atmosphere at the concentration of 1000×10⁻⁶ M. The gas sensing mechanism was purposely discussed from the electron transfer process and the microstructures of the as-prepared SnO₂ products. It is found that serious agglomerations in SnO₂-B′ particles facilitate the high gas sensing performance of SnO₂-B′ sensor, while mesoporous structures in SnO₂-C′ particles decrease the gas sensing response of SnO₂-C′ sensor.

Keywords

SnO₂ / gas sensors / self-assemble / SDS / gelatin

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