Impact of Tin and Titanium Doping on Acetone Gas Sensing Properties of Vanadium Dioxide Thin Films
J. Environ. Nanotechnol., Volume 14, No 2 (June 2025) pp. 471-478
Abstract
Room-temperature operable gas sensors with remarkable sensitivity, selectivity, and dependability have become a necessity to handle the rising hazards associated with the emissions of dangerous volatile organic compounds. Metal oxide thin films are desirable as chemi-resistive gas sensors because of their selectivity, large reactive surface area, and tunability of physicochemical characteristics. Vanadium dioxide (VO2) has remarkable promise as a gas sensing material due to its catalytic and physicochemical properties. This work develops an efficient technique for manufacturing extremely porous and oxygen vacancy-enriched Ti and Sn-doped VO2 thin films to address issues of partial physisorption and protracted reactions. Tin-doping reduced the optical bandgap from 3.60 eV (undoped) to 3.18 eV. The Sn-doped VO2 film showed improved acetone gas sensing abilities, achieving a sensitivity of 330% and response/recovery times of 20/60 seconds at 500 ppm. The improved performance is due to the augmented reactive surface area and elevated density of defect-induced oxygen vacancies facilitated by Sn doping. These results suggest that Sn-doped VO2 thin films may serve as valuable materials for the development of industrial safety devices.
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Reference
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