A facile method for preparation of porous nitrogen-doped Ti3C2Tx MXene for highly responsive acetone detection at high temperature

Abstract

Porous nitrogen-doped Ti3C2T[Formula: see text] MXene (N-TCT) with a three-dimensional network structure is synthesized via a simple sacrifice template method and then utilized as an acetone gas sensor. By introducing nitrogen atoms as heteroatoms into Ti3C2T[Formula: see text] nanosheets, some defects generate around the doped nitrogen atoms, which can greatly improve the surface hydrophilicity and adsorption capacity of Ti3C2T[Formula: see text] Mxene nanosheets. It resulted in the enhanced gas sensitivity, achieving a response value of about 36 ([Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text] × 100%) and excellent recovery time (9s) at 150[Formula: see text]C. Compared with the pure Ti3C2T[Formula: see text]-based gas sensor (381/92s), the response and recovery time are both obviously improved, and the response value increased by 3.5 times. The gas-sensing mechanism of the porous N-TCT is also discussed in detail. Based on the excellent gas sensitivity of porous N-TCT for highly responsive acetone detection at high temperatures, the strategy of nitrogen-doped two-dimensional nanomaterials can be extended to other nanomaterials to realize their potential applications.