The pursuit of high performance is the eternal theme
in gas sensor
research. Because of the complexity of the response and recovery processes,
the selective detection, high response, rapid response, and recovery
remain challenging in the atmospheric environment. In this paper,
WO3 hierarchical spheres (WO3 HS) with different
crystalline phase ratios are successfully synthesized to evaluate
the relationship between the phase structure and gas-sensitive properties.
The as-prepared WO3-2 HS samples achieve superior gas sensing
characteristics including high response (S = 24.2)
and fast response and recovery speed (1 and 19 s) to 100 ppm acetone
at 300 °C. The superior acetone sensing performance probably
originates from the regulation of the phase ratios of nanosheet-based
WO3. With the decrease of orthorhombic phase and the increase
of monoclinic phase, the specificity detection to acetone is increased
significantly. The reasons for such a huge selectivity change are
discussed in detail. From the perspective of reaction kinetics, we
also compare the contributions of specific surface area and crystalline
phase impacting the gas sensing performance.