Effects of the fabrication temperature and oxygen flux on the properties and nitrogen dioxide sensitivity of the tin oxides-tin/graphene hybrid sensor

Journal of Materials Research volume 31, pages1993–2003(2016)Cite this article

Abstract

The 1 nm tin oxides–tin (SnOx–Sn) compound films were thermally evaporated onto the chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown graphene films for the improved nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas sensitivity, and the effects of the fabrication temperature and oxygen (O2) flux on the properties of the SnOx–Sn/graphene hybrid sensors including their composition, morphology, and microstructure as well as NO2 sensitivity were investigated. The composition of the SnOx–Sn compound films exhibited strong dependence on the fabrication temperature and O2 flux which could be ascribed to the hybrid effect of the desorption of the oxygen functional groups on the graphene and oxidation of the graphene and Sn. Such combining effects also demonstrated tremendous influence on the SnOx–Sn film morphology, in which the enhanced desorption of the oxygen functional groups on the graphene together with the oxidation of Sn with increasing fabrication temperature would facilitate the formation of large grain-sized and discontinuous films while the increasing O2 flux showed the opposite effects. Meanwhile, the crystallization of the SnOx–Sn compound films was promoted and deteriorated with the increasing temperature and O2 flux, respectively. The SnOx–Sn film morphology played vital role in NO2 gas sensitivity at room temperature, and the mechanism responsible for that was also discussed.

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  1. Department of Physics, School of Science, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, People’s Republic of China

    Haichuan Mu, Keke Wang & Haifen Xie

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Mu, H., Wang, K. & Xie, H. Effects of the fabrication temperature and oxygen flux on the properties and nitrogen dioxide sensitivity of the tin oxides-tin/graphene hybrid sensor. Journal of Materials Research 31, 1993–2003 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2016.242

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