A low temperature butane gas sensor used Pt nanoparticles-modified AZO macro/mesoporous nanosheets as sensing material

This paper reported the synthesis and gas-sensing properties of Pt nanoparticles modified Al-doped ZnO (AZO) macro-/mesoporous nanosheets, which were prepared via a solution combustion approach with a subsequent heat treatment at 400 degrees C for 50 min. The high performance in detecting butane were achieved for the well-adhered products with unique porous surface appearance on the sensors fabricated using indirect heating method, which demonstrated the superiority of solution combustion synthesis (SCS) in synthesizing complex oxides. The possible explanations of the high butane gas-sensing characteristics of these sensors were based on the results of BET and XPS. The large surface area could provide sufficient interface between the materials and butane gas, and the adsorbed oxygen species having strong oxidation activity could break the butane molecules into CO2 and H2O. The gas-sensing properties of Pt-modified AZO were investigated by testing the gas responses towards butane. The maximum response of the 5% PtAZO based gas sensor reached 56.52-3000 ppm butane at 200 degrees C. What's more, the sensor also exhibited good short-and long-term stability, repeatability and selectivity, which made it a potential candidate in the application of monitoring butane. In the end, the possible mechanisms of gas-sensing properties were discussed.