A formaldehyde gas sensor with improved gas response and sub-ppm level detection limit based on NiO/NiFe2O4 composite nanotetrahedrons

Formaldehyde is a hazardous indoor volatile organic pollutant, thus selective and precise detection at a low concentration level is crucial. In this paper, NiO/NiFe2O4 nanocomposites were prepared through a simple two-step hydrothermal route and their gas sensing performances were investigated. SEM and TEM results showed that the composite products were NiO nanotetrahedrons decorated with numerous separated NiFe2O4 nanoparticles on the outer layer surface. XPS characterization confirmed that the as formed NiFe2O4 exhibited a p-type conductivity due to the hole transfer between Ni3+ and Ni2+ and therefore p-p isotype heterojunctions formed in the composite products. The element ratio of Fe to Ni was optimized to gain higher gas-sensing performance through adjusting the feeding amount of Fe3+ in the synthesis process. As a consequence, the gas sensor based on the sample NiFe-0.008 showed the highest response of 33.3-200 ppm formaldehyde vapor at 240 degrees C and a low detection limit of 200 ppb. The composite sensor also showed short response/recovery time and good long term stability. The enhanced gas sensing properties to formaldehyde can be attributed to the unique tetrahedral morphology and p-p heterojunction structure, which can provide more active sites and significantly enlarge resistance variation. This work will provide a new perspective of p-p heterojunction for the practical application in formaldehyde gas sensor.