Comparative study of Ag@SnO2/g- C3N4 and Ag@SnO2 nanostructure based efficient acetone resistive gas sensor

Abstract

Design of new nanocomposites and heterostructures of SnO2 can improve its gas sensing properties towards various volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In this study, we have successfully synthesized Ag@SnO2 and Ag decorated on SnO2/g-C3N4 (Ag@SnO2/g-C3N4) using a facile hydrothermal method. The synthesized nanostructures were subjected to various characterization techniques such as XRD, SEM, EDX, BET, UV-Visible to investigate their structural, morphological, and chemical properties. The XRD results confirms the crystalline nature and rutile phase of the synthesized nanostructures, while SEM micrographs revealed morphological variation along with temperature and high dispersion of g-C3N4 nanosheets on the surface of Ag@SnO2 nanostructure. The gas sensing performance of the samples was evaluated for acetone, with Ag@SnO2/g-C3N4 based resistive gas sensor which exhibited admirable sensitivity towards acetone. The enhanced sensing results of Ag@SnO2-g-C3N4 towards VOCs are attributed to its high surface area and strong interaction between Ag@SnO2 and g-C3N4.