High sensitivity of flexible graphene composites decorated with V2O5 microbelts for NO2 detection

• Published in: Materials research bulletin Vol. 133; p. 111052
• Main Authors: Chavez, D., Gomez-Solis, C., Mtz-Enriquez, A.I., Rodriguez-Gonzalez, V., Escobar-Barrios, V., Garcia, C.R., Oliva, J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2021
• Subjects: Flexible sensor; Graphene composite; NO2 gas; V2O5 microbelts; Flexible sensor; V2O5 microbelts; Graphene composite; NO2 gas
• ISSN: 0025-5408; 1873-4227
• DOI: 10.1016/j.materresbull.2020.111052

[Display omitted] •A flexible graphene composite detected NO2 gas (1,60 and 100 ppm).•V2O5 microbelts were used as sensitizing material for NO2 detection.•The flexible sensors (FS) could detect only NO2 even in presence of CO2 gas.•The FS was irradiated with UV light to recover their capacity for NO2 detection. Flexible graphene composites (FGCs) decorated with V2O5 (VO) microbelts were used as sensors for NO2 detection. The performance of the flexible sensor (FS) for NO2 detection at room temperature was evaluated using two different gas concentrations, low and high (1 and 100 ppm, respectively). The FS showed a gas response for both concentrations, but it was ≈10 times higher when the NO2 gas with a concentration of 100 ppm is detected. The best response/recovery times were 19/26 s, respectively. These times are comparable with these reported for ceramic sensors operating at 250−600 °C and are 10–100 times lower than these previously reported for graphene/rGO based sensors. The FS presented saturation for the NO2 detection after 4–17 cycles of use, but their capacity for NO2 sensing was recovered after their exposure to UV light. Finally, the FS was selective because it presented a gas response to NO2 even in presence of CO2.