Tin Oxide Based Hybrid Nanostructures for Efficient Gas Sensing

Abstract

Tin oxide as a semiconductor metal oxide has revealed great potential in the field of gas sensing due to its porous structure and reduced size. Especially for tin oxide and its composites, inherent properties such as high surface areas and their unique semiconducting properties with tunable band gaps make them compelling for sensing applications. In combination with the general benefits of metal oxide nanomaterials, the incorporation of metal oxides into metal oxide nanoparticles is a new approach that has dramatically improved the sensing performance of these materials due to the synergistic effects. This review aims to comprehend the sensing mechanisms and the synergistic effects of tin oxide and its composites in achieving high selectivity, high sensitivity and rapid response speed which will be addressed with a full summary. The review further vehemently highlights the advances in tin oxide and its composites in the gas sensing field. Further, the structural components, structural features and surface chemistry involved in the gas sensing are also explained. In addition, this review discusses the SnO2 metal oxide and its composites and unravels the complications in achieving high selectivity, high sensitivity and rapid response speed. The review begins with the gas sensing mechanisms, which are followed by the synthesis methods. Further key results and discussions of previous studies on tin metal oxide and its composites are also discussed. Moreover, achievements in recent research on tin oxide and its composites for sensor applications are then comprehensively compiled. Finally, the challenges and scope for future developments are discussed.

Oxide based Heterostructured Photocatalysts for CO2 Reduction and Hydrogen Generation

“…There are numerous studies reported in literature for the fabrication of metal oxide heterojunctions, increasing the potential applications for photocatalytic operations. These oxide heterostructured photocatalysts have found their employment towards other applications also such as organic conversions, gas sensing and electrocatalytic water splitting, thus making these photocatalysts multi‐functional materials [78,80,116,117] …”

ZrO2/CeO2-Heterostructured Nanocomposites for Enhanced Carbon Monoxide Gas Sensing

“…Semiconductor metal oxides are emerging as predominant gas sensing materials due to their unique physical and chemically tunable properties in the applications of detecting deleterious, toxic, pollutant, and explosive gases. − The inherent properties of metal oxides along with their composites, like the porous structure which is expressed in the form of a high specific surface area and tunable band gaps with unique semiconducting properties, make them compelling candidates for gas sensing applications. − Metal oxide nanomaterials, in combination with the general benefits, the addition of metal oxides into metal oxide nanomaterials is a new approach which has improved the sensing performance dramatically due to the synergistic effects of these materials. In the case of semiconductor oxides, the structure and surface morphology play a profound role in the sensing properties of gas due to the sensing mechanism, in which the oxygen adsorption and the reaction of oxygen with test gas molecules on the surface of metal oxides correlate with the resistance change. , Nowadays, metal oxide semiconductors with various morphologies and structures have been synthesized by different methods, such as nanosheets, nanocubes, nanowires, nanorods, nanospheres, nanoplates, and nanoflowers. , Further, besides these, hollow nanostructures have revealed immense potential in the field of gas sensors and have attracted strong attention due to their peculiar properties, like enhanced surface areas, good interfacial charge transfer efficiency, increased surface permeability, − and low density.…”

SnO2-Based Porous Nanomaterials: Sol-Gel Formation and Gas-Sensing Application

“…Tin oxide [ 32 , 33 , 34 ] as a semiconductor metal oxide has revealed great potential in the field of gas sensing due to its porous structure and reduced size. Especially for tin oxide and its composites, their inherent properties, such as high surface areas and unique semiconducting properties with tunable band gaps, make them compelling for sensing applications [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. The electrical conductivity of tin dioxide is very sensitive to the state of surfaces in the region of elevated temperatures, at which redox reactions occur on the surface of the oxides.…”