Acetone sensing properties of reduced graphene oxide–CdFe2O4 composites prepared by hydrothermal method

Reduced graphene oxide (RGO)–CdFe2O4 composites with different amounts of RGO (0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 wt%) were prepared via a hydrothermal method at 180 °C for 12 h. The as-prepared RGO–CdFe2O4 composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N2 adsorption–desorption and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. The effect of the amount of RGO in the composites on the gas-sensing responses and the gas-sensing selectivity of the materials was investigated. The experimental results revealed that the sensor based on 1 wt% RGO–CdFe2O4 composite (180 °C, 12 h) exhibited high response and good selectivity to acetone vapor, and the response to 1000 ppm and 0.01 ppm acetone vapor attained 1069.0 and 2.0 when operating at 270 °C, respectively. The response time and recovery time for 0.01 ppm acetone vapor were only 5 s and 3 s, respectively.