Sensors (Jun 2019)

Facile Chemical Bath Synthesis of SnS Nanosheets and Their Ethanol Sensing Properties

  • Wei Shan,
  • Zhengqian Fu,
  • Mingsheng Ma,
  • Zhifu Liu,
  • Zhenggang Xue,
  • Jiaqiang Xu,
  • Faqiang Zhang,
  • Yongxiang Li

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/s19112581
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 19, no. 11
p. 2581

Abstract

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Tin(II) monosulfide (SnS) nanosheets were synthesized using SnCl4•5H2O and S powders as raw materials in the presence of H2O via a facile chemical bath method. Orthorhombic phase SnS nanosheets with a thickness of ~100 nm and lateral dimensions of 2~10 μm were obtained by controlling the synthesis parameters. The formation of a SnO2 intermediate is key to the valence reduction of Sn ions (from IV to II) and the formation of SnS. The gas sensors fabricated from SnS nanosheets exhibited an excellent response of 14.86 to 100 ppm ethanol vapor when operating at 160 °C, as well as fast response and recovery times of 23 s and 26 s, respectively. The sensors showed excellent selectivity for the detection of ethanol over acetone, methanol, and ammonia gases, which indicates the SnS nanosheets are promising for high-performance ethanol gas sensing applications.

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