A Strategy to Improve O2 Gas Response of La-SnO2 Nanofibers Based Sensor through Temperature Modulation

Abstract

Generally sensing mechanisms of gas sensors based on metal-oxide semiconductors greatly depend on temperature, suggesting temperature modulation can be applied as a vital method to effectively enhance the sensor response. In this paper, we reported a strategy of quick-cooling operating temperature mode in the course of gas sensing process to elevate the O2 gas response while maintaining low heating energy consumption. La-SnO2 nanofibers synthesized by electrospinning were chosen as gas sensing materials. The O2 gas responses by employing quick-cooling operation mode are significantly improved compared with those obtained by traditional isothermal test. The improved O2 response is contributed to a higher coverage of negatively charged oxygen ions as a result of quick cooling. Our research offers a facile route to detect gas at low temperature with high response. More importantly, the strategy demonstrated here could also be extended to other gas sensor as long as its gas response is related to the sensor temperature.