The Three-Dimensional Hierarchical Structure of Bi _x-Sn _1-XO ₂ Used for Ultrasensitive Detection of Butanone Under UV Irradiation

Abstract

The latest research shows that butanone stimulates human eyes and neuron systems and is used as a biomarker in the exhaled breath of lung cancer patients. However, as far as we know, the research on the gas sensing properties of butanone is relatively scarce. At the same time, enhancing the gas-sensing properties of the materials to butanone under UV-irradiation remains challenging. In this study, we successfully synthesized Bi2O3-loaded SnO2 (Bi-SnO2) with a three-dimensional hierarchical structure via facile hydrothermal and impregnation precipitation methods. The physicochemical properties of the materials were analysed with a series of characterization methods. The prepared materials were activated by UV-irradiation, and their butanone sensing capabilities were also investigated. The gas sensing performance showed that the Bi0.02-Sn0.98O2 provided the excellent gas selectivities under UV-irradiation activation for butanone. Finally, a gas-sensing mechanism for the as-prepared materials was proposed. First-principles calculations with density functional theory (DFT) were used to optimize the Bi-SnO2 system, and the calculations demonstrated that it had a high adsorption energy for butanone. Therefore, the Bi-SnO2 system is an ideal butanone-sensing material with UV irradiation.

Keywords: Bi-SnO2 hierarchical structure, Butanone gas sensor, UV-irradiation, First-principles study