Recently,
room-temperature flexible gas sensors have been widely studied because
they can operate without being heated and create low-cost, low-power-consumption
devices with long-term stability. Here, by designing the active material
composition and structure, we report an electrospun carbon nanofiber
(CNF) network grafted by two-dimensional MoS2 nanosheets
and embedded CoS2 nanoparticles, which serves as a flexible
gas sensor for various toxic or hazardous gases working at room temperature.
In particular, the CNFs/CoS2/MoS2 hybrid films
exhibit very high selectivity toward NO over other gases including
NO2 and CH4, with selectivity coefficients (|S
NO/S
NO2
| and |S
NO/S
CH4
|) as high as 43 and 42 (defined as the ratio of responses
between two gases). The sensor shows a linear relationship in the
gas concentration range of 1–100 ppm and a stable response
during repeated bending. Theoretical calculations suggest that MoS2 can be selectively n-doped by NO, while CoS2 can
effectively capture NO molecules, leading to enhanced selectivity
and sensitivity. Our large-area flexible sensors made by synergistic
design have potential applications in biological and environmental
areas for low-cost, selective detection of toxic or targeted gases.