Ag/SnO2/graphene ternary nanocomposites and their sensing properties to volatile organic compounds

Combined with the pi-conjugate system of graphene, the SnO2/graphene nanocomposites exhibited highly sensitive to benzene as reported previously. However, the SnO2/graphene nanocomposites presented lower sensitive to other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) than benzene. For further improving the sensitivity to VOCs, noble metal was added to those nanocomposites. Here, Ag/SnO2/graphene ternary nanocomposites have been synthesized by a wet-chemical method. The synthesized ternary nanocomposites exhibit high sensitive to VOCs, especially acetone. The lowest detection concentration to acetone is 0.005 ppm. The sensing mechanism is speculated and the role of Ag nanoparticle, SnO2 nanoparticle, and graphene are clearly discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.