Preparation and enhanced acetone sensing property of flower-like Sn-doped Fe2O3

Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) nanostructures are used widely in acetone sensors, but pure MOS sensors usually have poor selectivity and low sensitivity. In this study, various Sn-doped Fe2O3 (Sn-Fe2O3) microflowers were obtained using FeOOH microflowers as precursors using a liquid hydrolysis reaction followed by a calci-nation process. Various characterization techniques verified the morphologies and composition of the products. The microflower-like 17.0 wt% Sn-Fe2O3 possessed a specific surface area of 138.9 m2 g-1. Employed as a sensing material, the 17.0 wt% Sn-Fe2O3 microflowers exhibited a strong response of 107.7 for 100 ppm acetone with short response/recovery times of 8/12 s. Furthermore, the 17.0 wt% Sn-Fe2O3 microflower sensor displayed good selectivity and high stability for acetone vapor with a detection limit of 114 ppb. The in-situ Raman spectrum verified that the Sn-Fe2O3 microflowers improved the adsorption of the acetone molecules, resulting in enhanced sensing performance.

Automated summary

In this study, Sn-doped Fe2O3 microflowers were synthesized and used as sensing materials for acetone sensors. The microflowers exhibited good selectivity, high sensitivity, and stability for acetone vapor detection, with enhanced adsorption of acetone molecules.