Porous reduced graphene oxide for ultrasensitive detection of nitrogen dioxide

The defect engineering in graphene plays a significant role for the application of gas sensors. In this work, we proposed an efficient method to prepare ultrasensitive gas sensors based on the porous reduced graphene oxide (PRGO). Photo-Fenton etching was carried out on GO nanosheets in a controlled manner to enrich their vacancy defects. The resulting porous graphene oxide (PGO) was then drop-coated on interdigital electrodes and hydrothermal reduced at 180 degrees C. Controllable reduction was achieved by varying the water amount. The gas sensor based on PRGO-5 min-6 h exhibited superior sensing and selective performance toward nitrogen dioxide (NO2), with an exceptional high sensitivity up to 12 ppm(-1). The theoretical limit of detection is down to 0.66 ppb. The excellent performance could be mainly attributed to the typical vacancy defects of PRGO. Some residue carboxylic groups on the edges could also facilitate the adsorption of polar molecules. The process has a great potential for scalable fabrication of high-performance NO2 gas sensors. (c) 2022 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

Automated summary

In this study, an efficient method was proposed to prepare ultrasensitive gas sensors based on porous reduced graphene oxide (PRGO) through photo-Fenton etching. The controlled etching enriched the vacancy defects of GO nanosheets and formed porous graphene oxide (PGO). The PGO was drop-coated on interdigital electrodes and hydrothermal reduced to achieve controllable reduction by varying the water amount. The gas sensor based on PRGO-5 min-6 h exhibited superior sensing and selective performance toward nitrogen dioxide (NO2), with an exceptional high sensitivity up to 12 ppm(-1) and a theoretical limit of detection down to 0.66 ppb. The excellent performance could be mainly attributed to the typical vacancy defects of PRGO, and the residue carboxylic groups on the edges facilitated the adsorption of polar molecules. The proposed process has great potential for scalable fabrication of high-performance NO2 gas sensors.