Porous corundum-type In2O3 nanoflowers: controllable synthesis, enhanced ethanol-sensing properties and response mechanism

Liping Gao; Fumin Ren; Zhixuan Cheng; Yuan Zhang; Qun Xiang; Jiaqiang Xu

doi:10.1039/C5CE00279F

Porous corundum-type In₂O₃ nanoflowers: controllable synthesis, enhanced ethanol-sensing properties and response mechanism†‡

Liping Gao,§^a Fumin Ren,§^b Zhixuan Cheng,^c Yuan Zhang,^c Qun Xiang^c and Jiaqiang Xu*^cd

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Physics, College of Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China

^b Municipal Engineering, Civil Engineering & Architecture, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China

^c NEST Lab, Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
E-mail: xujiaqiang@shu.edu.cn
Tel: +86 21 66132701

^d State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology, Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China

Abstract

Porous rhombohedral In₂O₃ (corundum-type In₂O₃, rh-In₂O₃) with a morphology of uniform nanoflowers was fabricated by using a mild, facile solvent-thermal method. The formation mechanism and transformation of phase were studied. The results revealed that the precursors were transformed from In(OH)₃ to InOOH with an increase in reaction time. The phase transformation was attributed to the stability of the InOOH phase at small crystal volume, less water molecules and small pH value, which in turn led to the formation of metastable rh-In₂O₃. The optimal working temperature of the sensor based on porous rh-In₂O₃ nanoflowers was proved to be 280 °C, corresponding to chemisorbed oxygen analysis based on a temperature changeable XPS, further demonstrating the surface resistance controlled gas sensing mechanism of In₂O₃. The sensor exhibited an enhanced response and rapid response/recovery toward ethanol vapour, which was ascribed to hierarchical porous structures and more active defects.

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C5CE00279F
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 06 Feb 2015
Accepted: 18 Mar 2015
First published: 20 Mar 2015

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CrystEngComm, 2015,17, 3268-3276

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Porous corundum-type In₂O₃ nanoflowers: controllable synthesis, enhanced ethanol-sensing properties and response mechanism

L. Gao, F. Ren, Z. Cheng, Y. Zhang, Q. Xiang and J. Xu, CrystEngComm, 2015, 17, 3268 DOI: 10.1039/C5CE00279F

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