Title | Ultrasonication assisted fabrication of a tungsten sulfide/tungstite heterostructure for ppb-level ammonia detection at room temperature |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2020 |
Authors | Jha, RKumar, Nanda, A, Bhat, N |
Journal | RSC Advances |
Volume | 10 |
Pagination | 21993–22001 |
Abstract | A heterostructure of WS2/WO3·H2O has been prepared by partial oxidation of WS2 nanosheets by exposing bulk WS2 micron powder to ultrasonic waves in a bath sonicator. The as-prepared nanomaterial was used as a sensing film in an interdigitated electrode-based gas detecting device. The device was found to be specific towards ammonia gas among a group oxidizing and reducing gases. In particular, a response of as high as 11.36–254.66% was recorded for ammonia concentrations of 50 ppb to 2 ppm with excellent repeatability and reproducibility at room temperature. The response time and recovery time of the device was found to be a few tens of seconds suggesting its practicability. A plausible mechanism based on different active sites present in the receptor film is proposed and a logical reason behind its specificity towards ammonia gas is also inferred based on the Lewis acidic centers on the nano-surfaces. Overall, this proposed nanomaterial has very high potential for practical use as a room temperature ammonia sensor. |
DOI | 10.1039/D0RA02553D |