[en] Oxygen vacancies in metal oxides play a pivotal role in determining their electronic structure and interfacial redox dynamics. However, their sluggish kinetics and imbalanced adsorption/ desorption hinder their performance. Here, we report oxygen vacancy (OV)-rich molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) microbelts for room-temperature (RT) volatile organic compound (VOC) sensors, effectively overcoming these limitations. Owing to the synergistic effects of a large specific surface area, surface oxygen vacancies, and an optimized electronic structure, exceptional trimethylamine (TMA) sensing performance richs oxygen vacancy-MoO3 (MoO3−x-R), including notably high response, rapid response/recovery, high selectivity, a low limit of detection (400 ppb), and reliable operational stability, was achieved. Experimental and density functional theory studies revealed that controlled oxygen vacancies contribute to tuning the surface redox activity of one-dimensional (1D) MoO3 and regulating the interfacial electron transfer efficiency. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations revealed that abundant oxygen vacancies in MoO3−x-R enhance its affinity for TMA while weakening its interaction with nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or water vapor. Furthermore, a portable device was developed for quantitative TMA monitoring, enabling rapid and nondestructive detection of fish freshness. This research provides novel perspectives for designing high-performance gas sensors by optimizing the interfacial redox kinetics.
Disciplines :
Materials science & engineering
Author, co-author :
Wu, Kaidi; College of Mechanical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China ; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Surface Strengthening and Functional Manufacturing (Yangzhou University), Yangzhou, China
Xu, Zhijie; College of Mechanical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China ; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Surface Strengthening and Functional Manufacturing (Yangzhou University), Yangzhou, China
Xu, Kaichun; College of Mechanical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China ; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Surface Strengthening and Functional Manufacturing (Yangzhou University), Yangzhou, China ; ICB, UMR 6303, CNRS, Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté, UTBM, Belfort, France
Xu, Jinyong; College of Mechanical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China ; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Surface Strengthening and Functional Manufacturing (Yangzhou University), Yangzhou, China
Luo, Yifan; College of Mechanical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China ; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Surface Strengthening and Functional Manufacturing (Yangzhou University), Yangzhou, China
Debliquy, Marc ; Université de Mons - UMONS > Faculté Polytechnique > Service de Science des Matériaux
Zhang, Chao; College of Mechanical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China ; Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Surface Strengthening and Functional Manufacturing (Yangzhou University), Yangzhou, China
R400 - Institut de Recherche en Science et Ingénierie des Matériaux
Funding text :
This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52402202), the Natural Science Youth Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (No. BK20240933), the Outstanding Youth Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (No. BK20211548), the Yangzhou Science and Technology Plan Project (No. YZ2023246), and Qinglan Project of Yangzhou University.
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