Controllable deposition of ZnO-doped SnO2 nanowires on Au/graphene and their application in cataluminescence sensing for alcohols and ketones

In the present work, we developed a miniaturized tungsten coil device, a cataluminescence gas detector for alcohols and ketones using zinc oxide-doped tin dioxide (SnO2:ZnO) nanowires as the sensing materials. SnO2:ZnO nanowires were controllably deposited on tungsten coil which was coated with Au/reduced graphene oxide composites via an atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition process. This SnO2:ZnO nanowires-based gas sensor has fast and sensitive response to alcohols and ketones with a wide range. The response time and recovery time of the present sensor for ethanol were 7 s and 40 s, respectively. The linear range of ethanol was 11.7-204.7 μg mL−1 with a detection limit of 11.0 μg mL−1 (S/N = 3). In addition, it has relatively good reproducibility, and its linear response to alcohols and ketones makes it to be promising in practical application.