Gas Sensing Properties of Perovskite Decorated Graphene at Room Temperature

Abstract

This paper explores the gas sensing properties of graphene nanolayers decorated with lead halide perovskite (CH3NH3PbBr3) nanocrystals to detect toxic gases such as ammonia (NH3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). A chemical-sensitive semiconductor film based on graphene has been achieved, being decorated with CH3NH3PbBr3 perovskite (MAPbBr3) nanocrystals (NCs) synthesized, and characterized by several techniques, such as field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Reversible responses were obtained towards NO2 and NH3 at room temperature, demonstrating an enhanced sensitivity when the graphene is decorated by MAPbBr3 NCs. Furthermore, the effect of ambient moisture was extensively studied, showing that the use of perovskite NCs in gas sensors can become a promising alternative to other gas sensitive materials, due to the protective character of graphene, resulting from its high hydrophobicity. Besides, a gas sensing mechanism is proposed to understand the effects of MAPbBr3 sensing properties.