Graphene sheets decorated with SnO2nanoparticles: in situ synthesis and highly efficient materials for cataluminescence gas sensors

Abstract

Graphene sheets decorated with SnO₂ nanoparticles were prepared through a facile hydrothermal-assisted in situ synthesis route. According to the XPS, XRD, FESEM and TEM analysis, rutile SnO₂ nanocrystals were exclusively deposited on graphene sheets with high density and high uniformity to form layered composite sheets. Propanal, a common volatile organic compound, was selected as a model to investigate the cataluminescence (CTL) sensing properties of the SnO₂/graphene composite in this paper. It was found that the strong CTL emission could be generated due to the catalyzing oxidization of propanal on the surface of SnO₂/graphene composite and this composite was an efficient sensing material for propanal. We further studied the analytical characteristics of the CTL sensor based on SnO₂/graphene composite sensing material for propanal under the optimal experimental conditions. The linear range of the propanal gas sensor was 1.34–266.67 μg mL⁻¹ (r = 0.9987), over two orders of magnitude, and the detection limit was 0.3 μg mL⁻¹(S/N = 3).