Development of Pd/In2O3 hybrid nanoclusters to optimize ethanol vapor sensing

Bo Xie; Jian Sun; Aoxue Zhang; Haoyu Qian; Xibing Mao; Yingzhu Li; Wenjing Yan; Changjiang Zhou; Hui-Min Wen; Shengjie Xia; Min Han; Paolo Milani; Peng Mao

doi:10.1039/D4CP00868E

Development of Pd/In₂O₃ hybrid nanoclusters to optimize ethanol vapor sensing†

Bo Xie,

^a Jian Sun,^a Aoxue Zhang,^a Haoyu Qian,^a Xibing Mao,^a Yingzhu Li,^a Wenjing Yan,^a Changjiang Zhou,^a Hui-Min Wen,

^a Shengjie Xia,

^a Min Han,

^b Paolo Milani^c and Peng Mao

*^bd

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a College of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Zhejiang 310014, P. R. China

^b National Laboratory of Solid-State Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, P. R. China
E-mail: pmao@nju.edu.cn

^c CIMAINA and Department of Physics, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 16, Milano, Italy

^d State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, P. R. China

Abstract

In this study, we successfully synthesize palladium-decorated indium trioxide (Pd/In₂O₃) hybrid nanoclusters (NCs) using an advanced dual-target cluster beam deposition (CBD) method, a significant stride in developing high-performance ethanol sensors. The prepared Pd/In₂O₃ hybrid NCs exhibit exceptional sensitivity, stability, and selectivity to low concentrations of ethanol vapor, with a maximum response value of 101.2 at an optimal operating temperature of 260 °C for 6 at% Pd loading. The dynamic response of the Pd/In₂O₃-based sensor shows an increase in response with increasing ethanol vapor concentrations within the range of 50 to 1000 ppm. The limit of detection is as low as 24 ppb. The sensor exhibits a high sensitivity of 28.24 ppm^−1/2, with response and recovery times of 2.7 and 4.4 seconds, respectively, for 100 ppm ethanol vapor. Additionally, the sensor demonstrates excellent repeatability and stability, with only a minor decrease in response observed over 30 days and notable selectivity for ethanol compared to other common volatile organic compounds. The study highlights the potential of Pd/In₂O₃ NCs as promising materials for ethanol gas sensors, leveraging the unique capabilities of CBD for controlled synthesis and the catalytic properties of Pd for enhanced gas-sensing performance.

This article is part of the themed collection: Size effects in chemistry & physics of atomic & molecular clusters, nanoparticles & nanostructures

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

Development of Pd/In₂O₃ hybrid nanoclusters to optimize ethanol vapor sensing†

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Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics