Porous reduced graphene oxide for ultrasensitive detection of nitrogen dioxide

• Published in: Chinese chemical letters Vol. 34; no. 1; p. 107197
• Main Authors: Chu, Zengyong, Xiao, Min, Dong, Qichao, Li, Guochen, Hu, Tianjiao, Zhang, Ye, Jiang, Zhenhua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.01.2023
• Subjects: Gas sensors; Graphene oxide; Nitrogen dioxide; Photo-fenton reaction; Porous reduced graphene oxide; Photo-fenton reaction; Graphene oxide; Nitrogen dioxide; Gas sensors; Porous reduced graphene oxide
• ISSN: 1001-8417; 1878-5964
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cclet.2022.02.003

The defect engineering in graphene plays a significant role for the application of gas sensors. In this work, we proposed an efficient method to prepare ultrasensitive gas sensors based on the porous reduced graphene oxide (PRGO). Photo-Fenton etching was carried out on GO nanosheets in a controlled manner to enrich their vacancy defects. The resulting porous graphene oxide (PGO) was then drop-coated on interdigital electrodes and hydrothermal reduced at 180 °C. Controllable reduction was achieved by varying the water amount. The gas sensor based on PRGO-5 min-6 h exhibited superior sensing and selective performance toward nitrogen dioxide (NO2), with an exceptional high sensitivity up to 12 ppm−1. The theoretical limit of detection is down to 0.66 ppb. The excellent performance could be mainly attributed to the typical vacancy defects of PRGO. Some residue carboxylic groups on the edges could also facilitate the adsorption of polar molecules. The process has a great potential for scalable fabrication of high-performance NO2 gas sensors. Porous reduced graphene oxides were prepared from graphene oxides via a controllabe photo-Fenton etching and a hydrothermal reduction at 180 °C, which exhibit an exceptional high sensitivity up to 12 ppm−1 toward nitrogen dioxide. [Display omitted]