Cu2O/Ti3C2T x nanocomposites for detection of triethylamine gas at room temperature

Abstract

Abstract Triethylamine gas is one of the harmful volatile organic compounds for human health and the ecological environment. Therefore, in order to prevent the detrimental effects of triethylamine gas, it has greatly requirement to be accurately detected. Unfortunately, Cu2O has a low triethylamine gas response and slow recovery. Because of this, we prepared Cu2O/Ti3C2T x nanocomposites by a facile ultrasonication technique. Cu2O is uniformly dispersed on the surface and interlayers of multilayer Ti3C2T x to form a stable hybrid heterostructure. The optimized Cu2O/Ti3C2T x nanocomposite sensor’s response to 10 ppm triethylamine at room temperature is 181.6% (∣ R g-R a ∣/R a × 100%). It is 3.5 times higher than the original Cu2O nanospheres (52.1%). Moreover, due to the characteristics of high carrier migration rate and excellent conductivity of Ti3C2T x , the response recovery rate (1062 s/74 s) of Cu2O/Ti3C2Tx composites is greatly improved than pristine Cu2O (3169 s/293 s). In addition, Cu2O/Ti3C2T x nanocomposites sensor also shows excellent repeatability, outstanding selectivity, and long-term stability. Thus, the Cu2O/Ti3C2T x nanocomposites sensor has broad application prospects for detecting triethylamine gas at room temperature.