Issue 25, 2018

Porous Co3O4/SnO2 quantum dot (QD) heterostructures with abundant oxygen vacancies and Co2+ ions for highly efficient gas sensing and oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract

Porous Co3O4/SnO2 quantum dot (QD) heterojunctions with a strong synergistic effect are successfully synthesized in this paper. Owing to the strong synergistic effect between Co3O4 and SnO2QDs, Co3O4/SnO2QD heterostructures possess more Co2+ ions for a faster Co2+/Co0 redox reaction in the process of sensing of reducing gases and electrochemical reactions, and more oxygen vacancies for more active sites and reduced charge transfer resistance on the surface. These advantages are demonstrated to significantly enhance the gas sensitivity to xylene and greatly improve the catalysis for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). As a catalyst for the OER, Co3O4/SnO2QD (1 : 1) heterostructures exhibit the highest current density, lowest onset potential, largest active surface area and remarkable durability in alkaline electrolytes. The sensitivity of Co3O4/SnO2QD (1 : 1) heterostructures to 100 ppm xylene is almost 10 times higher than that of pure Co3O4 nanosheets and 3 times higher than that of SnO2QDs. In addition, Co3O4/SnO2QD (1 : 1) heterostructure sensors exhibit excellent gas selectivity, long-term stability and markedly high response to low concentrations of xylene at low operating temperatures.

Graphical abstract: Porous Co3O4/SnO2 quantum dot (QD) heterostructures with abundant oxygen vacancies and Co2+ ions for highly efficient gas sensing and oxygen evolution reaction

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
27 Mar 2018
Accepted
23 May 2018
First published
29 May 2018

Nanoscale, 2018,10, 12045-12053

Porous Co3O4/SnO2 quantum dot (QD) heterostructures with abundant oxygen vacancies and Co2+ ions for highly efficient gas sensing and oxygen evolution reaction

X. Wang and M. Gao, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 12045 DOI: 10.1039/C8NR02498G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements