Synthesis of Ti3C2Tx nanosheets / ZnO nanowires composite material for NO2 gas sensing

Abstract

NO2 is a toxic gas that poses a significant threat to the environment and human health. In this work, one-dimensional ZnO nanowires and two-dimensional layered titanium carbide (Ti3C2Tx) have been prepared by hydrothermal and selective chemical etching methods, respectively. The Ti3C2Tx/ZnO composites are synthesized by electrostatic self-assembly method. The characterization results indicate that the ZnO nanowires are uniformly dispersed on the surface of layered Ti3C2Tx to form a heterostructure. Meanwhile, the gas sensitive performance of Ti3C2Tx/ZnO composite material is investigated and compared with that of pure Ti3C2Tx. The results reveal that the composite exhibits a high selectivity as well as sensitivity with a response value (S = Rg/Ra) of 18.66 to 100 ppm NO2 at 250 ℃, which is 4.3 times higher than that of pure Ti3C2Tx. This proves that the prepared composite material is an effective sensing material for detecting NO2 gas.

Keywords

• ZnO nanowires
• Ti3C2Tx/ZnO
• NO2 gas sensing
• Electrostatic self-assemble