CTAB Enhanced Room-Temperature Detection of NO2 Based on MoS2-Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanohybrid

Abstract

A new NO2 nanohybrid of a gas sensor (CTAB-MoS2/rGO) was constructed for sensitive room-temperature detection of NO2 by 3D molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO), assisted with hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). In comparison with MoS2 and MoS2/rGO, the BET and SEM characterization results depicted the three-dimensional structure of the CTAB-MoS2/rGO nanohybrid, which possessed a larger specific surface area to provide more active reaction sites to boost its gas-sensing performance. Observations of the gas-sensing properties indicated that the CTAB-MoS2/rGO sensor performed a high response of 45.5% for 17.5 ppm NO2, a remarkable selectivity of NO2, an ultra-low detection limit of 26.55 ppb and long-term stability for a 30-day measurement. In addition, the response obtained for the CTAB-MoS2/rGO sensor was about two to four times that obtained for the MoS2/rGO sensor and the MoS2 sensor toward 8 ppm NO2, which correlated with the heterojunction between MoS2 and rGO, and the improvement in surface area and conductivity correlated with the introduction of CTAB and rGO. The excellent performance of the CTAB-MoS2/rGO sensor further suggested the advantage of CTAB in assisting a reliable detection of trace NO2 and an alternative method for highly efficiently detecting NO2 in the environment.