Hierarchical SnO2 nanoflower sensitized by BNQDs enhances the gas sensing performances to BTEX

Abstract

Abstract In this study, the SnO2 nanoflowers with hierarchical structures sensitized by boron nitride quantum dots (BNQDs) were prepared through a simple hydrothermal method. It was applied for the detection of the BTEX vapors. Further investigation showed that the response value of SnO2 sensitized by different amounts of BNQDs to the BTEX gases have a certain improvement. Especially 10-BNQDs/SnO2 gas sensor exhibited a significant improvement in gas sensing performance and its response values to different BTEX gases was increased up to 2–4 folds compared with the intrinsic SnO2 sensor. In addition, SnO2 nanoflowers based gas sensor showed surprisingly fast response and recovery time for BTEX gases with 1–2 s. That can be attributed to the sensitization of BNQDs and the hierarchical structure of SnO2 nanoflowers, which provided an easy channel for the gas diffusion. An economically viable gas sensor based on BNQDs sensitized SnO2 nanoflowers exhibited a great potential in BTEX gas detection due to the simple synthesis method, environmentally friendly raw materials and excellent gas sensing performance.