Fe2O3-sensitized SnO2 nanosheets via atomic layer deposition for sensitive formaldehyde detection

Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) nanostructures have been widely explored for formaldehyde sensors. The low surface chemical and electronic properties of pure MOS, however, greatly limits the sensor functions. In this work, Fe2O3-sensitized SnO2 nanosheets are designed via atomic layer deposition (ALD) to realize high performance formaldehyde detection. By varying the ALD cycles, the influence of different Fe2O3 loading on the sensing performance of SnO2 nanosheets is revealed. It is found that Fe2O3 ALD can greatly boost the sensing performance and the SnO2 nanosheets with 20 Fe2O3 ALD cycles exhibits the best response (Ra/Rg = 4.5) and fast response and recovery dynamics (9 and 34 s) to 20 ppm formaldehyde at a relative low temperature of 220 °C. The sensor based on SnO2/Fe2O3 also displays good selectivity to formaldehyde as well as the reliable stability and low limit of detection (LOD). This work will shed some light to design efficient MOS heterostructures for detection of formaldehyde.