Practical room temperature formaldehyde sensing based on a combination of visible-light activation and dipole modification

Hongping Liang; Lanpeng Guo; Nengjie Cao; Huiyun Hu; Hao Li; Nicolaas Frans de Rooij; Ahmad Umar; Hamed Algarni; Yao Wang; Guofu Zhou

doi:10.1039/D1TA06346D

Practical room temperature formaldehyde sensing based on a combination of visible-light activation and dipole modification†

Hongping Liang,^ab Lanpeng Guo,^ab Nengjie Cao,^ab Huiyun Hu,^ab Hao Li,

^ab Nicolaas Frans de Rooij,^b Ahmad Umar,^c Hamed Algarni,^d Yao Wang

*^ab and Guofu Zhou^ab

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Information Materials and Technology, Institute of Electronic Paper Displays, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, P. R. China
E-mail: wangyao@m.scnu.edu.cn

^b National Center for International Research on Green Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, P. R. China

^c Promising Centre for Sensors and Electronic Devices, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Arts, Najran University, Najran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

^d Department of Physics, King Khalid University, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Implementing sensitive and fast ppb-level formaldehyde sensing at room temperature is still in extreme demand for practical indoor air quality monitoring. Herein, we developed a visible-light-sensitive and dipole-modified graphene-based nanocomposite ZnO_x@ANS-rGO for ultrasensitive trace formaldehyde sensing. The rich oxygen vacancy zinc oxide (ZnO_x) nanoparticles on graphene nanosheets provide OH-groups and edge sorption sites to facilitate the activation of adsorbed oxygen. Moreover, the supramolecular assembled 5-aminonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid-modified graphene (ANS-rGO) nanosheets with donor–π–acceptor dipole served as an excellent conduction platform to transport and collect photo-generated electrons. Based on the collaboration of rich ZnO_x and ANS-rGO, the obtained sensor ZnO_x@ANS-rGO-0.1 showed the highest response (R_a/R_g = 1.58 to 1 ppm HCHO) among the MOS materials reported so far, and its limit of detection (LOD) can be as low as 5 ppb under 405 nm light illumination at RT. The outstanding efficiency and accuracy of the obtained gas sensor were confirmed by practical performance estimation in a 30 m³ chamber. The selectivity, long-term stability, repeatability and humidity resistance of the obtained sensors at RT were also revealed. The sensing mechanism based on the combination of visible-light activation and dipole modification was analyzed by the O-XPS, PL, in situ ATR-FTIR and charge density difference calculation.

Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Practical room temperature formaldehyde sensing based on a combination of visible-light activation and dipole modification†

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Practical room temperature formaldehyde sensing based on a combination of visible-light activation and dipole modification

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