The enhanced ethanol sensing properties obtained by the introduction of NiO into ZnO/SnO2 mixed metal oxides

The ternary NiZnSn-MMOCs sensors with the optimal content of Ni, which show extended adsorption to visible light area, exhibit broad wavelength absorption ranges and lower energy band gap values. Especially, it reveals the highest sensitivity of 180-200 ppm ethanol at 225 °C and quick response time of 11 s to 1 ppm ethanol. It performs impressive ethanol sensing behaviors with advantages of good sensitivity, satisfactory stability and high selectivity. The introduction of visible light responsive component is helpful to improve the sensitivity of metal oxide gas sensors, which might provide a new thought to improve the materials' sensing properties in the future.273