Bolun Tang

Polyaniline (PANI) is an important conductive-polymer gas-sensing material with working temperature and mechanical flexibilities superior to those of conventional metal oxide sensing materials. However, its applicability is limited by its low sensitivity, high detection limits, and long response/recovery times. In this study, we prepared PANI/WS₂ composites via chemical oxidative polymerization and mechanical blending. A multilayer sensor structure—sequentially printed silver-paste heating electrodes, fluorene polyester insulating layer, silver interdigitated electrodes, and sensing material layer—was fabricated on a polyimide substrate via flexible microelectronic printing and systematically characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The optimized 5 wt% WS₂ composite showed enhanced gas-sensing performance, with 219.1% sensitivity to 100 ppm ammonia (2.4-fold higher than that of pure PANI) and reduced response and recovery times of 24 and 91 s, respectively (compared to 81 and 436 s for pure PANI, respectively). Notably, the PANI/WS₂ sensor detected an ultralow ammonia concentration (100 ppb) with 0.104% sensitivity. The structural characterization and performance analysis results were used to deduce a mechanism for the enhanced sensing capability. These findings highlight the application potential of PANI/WS₂ composites in flexible gas sensors and provide fundamental insights for PANI-based sensing materials research.

This paper presents a ZnO-Pt/Ru sensor prepared by a two-step hydrothermal method with in situ-grown ZnO nanorods and doped with Pt and Ru elements by immersion sintering. Characterization results showed that Pt and Ru were successfully modified on the surface of ZnO nanorods. ZnO-Pt/Ru achieved a response of 25–50 ppm H₂S at the optimum operating temperature of 198 °C. In addition, the lower limit of H₂S detection of ZnO-Pt/Ru reached 50 ppb with a response of about 10%, indicating a wide concentration detection range. Due to the good catalytic properties of Pt, the recovery characteristics of ZnO at high concentrations of H₂S were significantly improved. The response time of ZnO-Pt/Ru (30 s) was also significantly shorter than pristine ZnO (56 s), with excellent selectivity. As far as the gas-sensitive enhancement mechanism is concerned, at the macroscopic level, the ZnO surface was modified by Pt and Ru, and this special structure of ZnO-Pt/Ru significantly increased the specific surface area. At the microscopic level, the PN junction formed between Pt/Ru and ZnO provided abundant holes for electron migration.

In this paper, a room-temperature NO₂ sensor based on a polyaniline (PANI)/black phosphorus (BP) composite material was proposed to solve the power consumption problem of traditional metal-oxide sensors operating at high temperatures. PANI was synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization, whereas BP was synthesized by low-pressure mineralization. The PANI/BP composite materials were prepared via ultrasonic exfoliation and mixing. Various characterization techniques, including scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), confirmed the successful preparation of the PANI/BP composites and their excellent structural properties. The sensor demonstrated outstanding gas sensitivity in the NO₂ concentration range of 2–60 ppm. In particular, the sensor showed a response exceeding 2200% at 60 ppm NO₂ concentration when using a 1:1 mass ratio of PANI to BP in the composite material.

To date, various materials have been widely investigated for developing highly selective and sensitive sensors for NO ₂ , a common hazardous gas. However, the associated NO ₂ -gas-sensor fabrication methods exhibit several drawbacks, which hinder the development of NO ₂ -sensitive gas sensors with excellent selectivity. In this study, NiP ₂ -Ni ₂ P polymorphs with observable heterointerfaces were prepared using metalloid NiP ₂ and metallic Ni ₂ P for NO ₂ gas sensing, and the characteristics of the synthesized polymorphs were evaluated through X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive spectrometry. At 160 °C, the fabricated sensor exhibited a response of 1.5%-93.14% for NO ₂ gas over a concentration range of 0.5-60 ppm; its response and recovery times were 16 and 55 s, respectively. In addition, the sensor exhibited excellent NO ₂ selectivity and long-term stability. Density functional theory calculations revealed the adsorption sites of NO ₂ molecules on NiP ₂ , and the gas-sensing mechanism was elucidated. The findings of this study establish NiP ₂ -Ni ₂ P, which is currently employed as an outstanding electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution, as a potential NO ₂ sensor platform with excellent selectivity and efficient recovery characteristics.

High sensitivity and selectivity and short response and recovery times are important for practical conductive polymer gas sensors. However, poor stability, poor selectivity, and long response times significantly limit the applicability of single-phase conducting polymers, such as polypyrrole (PPy). In this study, PPy/MoS₂ composite films were prepared via chemical polymerization and mechanical blending, and flexible thin-film resistive NO₂ sensors consisting of copper heating, fluorene polyester insulating, and PPy/MoS₂ sensing layers with a silver fork finger electrode were fabricated on a flexible polyimide substrate using a flexible electronic printer. The PPy/MoS₂ composite films were characterized using X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy. A home-built gas sensing test platform was built to determine the resistance changes in the composite thin-film sensor with temperature and gas concentration. The PPy/MoS₂ sensor exhibited better sensitivity, selectivity, and stability than a pure PPy sensor. Its response to 50 ppm NO₂ was 38% at 150 °C, i.e., 26% higher than that of the pure PPy sensor, and its selectivity and stability were also higher. The greater sensitivity was attributed to p–n heterojunction formation after MoS₂ doping and more gas adsorption sites. Thus, PPy/MoS₂ composite film sensors have good application prospects.

Modern chemical production processes often emit complex mixtures of gases, including hazardous pollutants such as NO₂. Although widely used, gas sensors based on metal oxide semiconductors such as WO₃ respond to a wide range of interfering gases other than NO₂. Consequently, developing WO₃ gas sensors with high NO₂ selectivity is challenging. In this study, a simple one-step hydrothermal method was used to prepare WO₃ nanorods modified with black phosphorus (BP) flakes as sensitive materials for NO₂ sensing, and BP-WO₃-based micro-electromechanical system gas sensors were fabricated. The characterization of the as-prepared BP-WO₃ composite through X-ray diffraction scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the successful formation of the sandwich-like nanostructures. The result of gas-sensing tests with 2–14 ppm NO₂ indicated that the sensor response was 1.25–2.21 with response–recovery times of 36 and 36 s, respectively, at 190 °C. In contrast to pure WO₃, which exhibited a response of 1.07–2.2 to 0.3–5 ppm H₂S at 160 °C, BP-WO₃ showed almost no response to H₂S. Thus, compared with pure WO₃, BP-WO₃ exhibited significantly improved NO₂ selectivity. Overall, the BP-WO₃ composite with sandwich-like nanostructures is a promising material for developing highly selective NO₂ sensors for practical applications.

In gas sensors composed of semiconductor metal oxides and two-dimensional materials, the gas-sensitive material is deposited or coated on a metallic signal electrode and must be selective and responsive at a specific temperature. The microelectromechanical devices hosting this material must keep it at the correct operating temperature using a micro-hotplate robust to high temperatures. In this study, three hotplate designs were investigated: electrodes arranged on both sides of an AlN substrate, a micro-hotplate buried in an alumina ceramic substrate, and a beam structure formed using laser punching. The last two designs use magnetron-sputtered ultra-thin AlN films to separate the upper Au interdigital electrodes and lower Pt heating resistor in a sandwich-like structure. The temperature distribution is simulated by the Joule heat model, and the third design has better energy consumption performance. This design was fabricated, and the effect of the rough surface of the alumina ceramic on the preparation was addressed. The experimental results show that the micro-hotplate can operate at nearly 700 °C. The micro-hotplate heats to nearly 240 °C in 2.4 s using a power of ~340 mW. This design makes ceramic-based micro-hotplates a more practical alternative to silicon-based micro-hotplates in gas sensors.

Owing to harsh working environments and complex industrial requirements, traditional gas sensors are prone to deformation damage, possess a limited detection range, require a high working temperature, and display low reliability, thereby necessitating the development of flexible and low-temperature gas sensors. In this study, we developed a low-temperature polyimide (PI)-based flexible gas sensor comprising a reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/MoS₂ composite. The micro-electro-mechanical system technology was used to fabricate Au electrodes on a flexible PI sheet to form a “sandwiched” sensor structure. The rGO/MoS₂ composites were synthesized via a one-step hydrothermal method. The gas-sensing response was the highest for the composite comprising 10% rGO. The structure of this material was characterized, and a PI-based flexible gas sensor comprising rGO/MoS₂ was fabricated. The optimal working temperature of the sensor was 141 °C, and its response-recovery time was significantly short upon exposure to 50–1500 ppm NH₃. Thus, this sensor exhibited high selectivity and a wide NH₃ detection range. Furthermore, it possessed the advantages of low power consumption, a short response-recovery time, a low working temperature, flexibility, and variability. Our findings provide a new framework for the development of pollutant sensors that can be utilized in an industrial environment.