Synthesis of α-Fe2O3 with the aid of graphene and its gas-sensing property to ethanol

The design and synthesis of nanomaterials with high gas sensing property have been given extensive attention to satisfy future societal and environmental needs. Herein, a facile hydrothermal method is developed to prepare the Fe2O3 nanoparticles in the presence of graphene sheets; afterwards, a heat treatment process is performed for producing well-dispersed Fe2O3 nanoparticles along with the elimination of graphene sheets. The investigation on the evolution process reveals that the presence of graphene is critical for not only preventing agglomeration of Fe2O3 nanoparticles but also keeping Fe2O3 nanoparticles in small sizes. The obtained Fe2O3 nanoparticles with the aid of graphene present excellent gas sensitive performance (more than 4.0 times to 1000 ppm of ethanol than that of pure Fe2O3 obtained without graphene) toward ethanol, indicating the potential applications as sensor material towards ethanol detection.