Room-temperature high-performance acetone gas sensor based on hydrothermal synthesized SnO2-reduced graphene oxide hybrid composite

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrated a room-temperature acetone gas sensor based on a tin dioxide (SnO₂)-reduced graphene oxide (RGO) hybrid composite film. The SnO₂–RGO composite film sensor was fabricated on a PCB substrate with rectangular-ambulatory-plane interdigitated microelectrodes by using a facile hydrothermal method. The presence of small SnO₂ nanoparticles on RGO sheets was characterized by SEM, XRD and BET measurements, demonstrating good structures without irreversible restacking of sheets and agglomeration. The sensing properties of the SnO₂–RGO hybrid film sensor were investigated by exposing it to various concentrations of acetone gas at room temperature. It was found that the presented sensor exhibited not only an excellent response to acetone gas, but also a fast response–recovery time and good repeatability, exhibiting the unique advantages of the SnO₂–RGO hybrid composite as a building block for sensor fabrication. The gas response of the SnO₂–RGO hybrid composite was about 2-fold higher than that of the pure RGO film, and the possible sensing mechanism was mainly attributed to the high surface area, three-dimensional porous nanostructure and special interactions between the RGO sheets and SnO₂ nanoparticles.