High-performance electrically transduced hazardous gas sensors based on low-dimensional nanomaterials

Abstract

Low-dimensional nanomaterials have been proven as promising high-performance gas sensing components due to their fascinating structural, physical, chemical, and electronic characteristics. In particular, materials with low dimensionalities (i.e., 0D, 1D, and 2D) possess an extremely large surface area-to-volume ratio to expose abundant active sites for interactions with molecular analytes. Gas sensors based on these materials exhibit a sensitive response to subtle external perturbations on sensing channel materials via electrical transduction, demonstrating a fast response/recovery, specific selectivity, and remarkable stability. Herein, we comprehensively elaborate gas sensing performances in the field of sensitive detection of hazardous gases with diverse low-dimensional sensing materials and their hybrid combinations. We will first introduce the common configurations of gas sensing devices and underlying transduction principles. Then, the main performance parameters of gas sensing devices and subsequently the main underlying sensing mechanisms governing their detection operation process are outlined and described. Importantly, we also elaborate the compositional and structural characteristics of various low-dimensional sensing materials, exemplified by the corresponding sensing systems. Finally, our perspectives on the challenges and opportunities confronting the development and future applications of low-dimensional materials for high-performance gas sensing are also presented. The aim is to provide further insights into the material design of different nanostructures and to establish relevant design guidelines to facilitate the device performance enhancement of nanomaterial based gas sensors.