Cu 2 O/Ti 3 C 2 T x nanocomposites for detection of triethylamine gas at room temperature

Abstract Triethylamine gas is one of the harmful volatile organic compounds for human health and the ecological environment. Therefore, in order to prevent the detrimental effects of triethylamine gas, it has greatly requirement to be accurately detected. Unfortunately, Cu 2 O has a low triethylamine gas response and slow recovery. Because of this, we prepared Cu 2 O/Ti 3 C 2 T x nanocomposites by a facile ultrasonication technique. Cu 2 O is uniformly dispersed on the surface and interlayers of multilayer Ti 3 C 2 T x to form a stable hybrid heterostructure. The optimized Cu 2 O/Ti 3 C 2 T x nanocomposite sensor’s response to 10 ppm triethylamine at room temperature is 181.6% ( ∣ R g - R a ∣ / R a × 100%). It is 3.5 times higher than the original Cu 2 O nanospheres (52.1%). Moreover, due to the characteristics of high carrier migration rate and excellent conductivity of Ti 3 C 2 T x , the response recovery rate (1062 s/74 s) of Cu 2 O/Ti 3 C 2 T x composites is greatly improved than pristine Cu 2 O (3169 s/293 s). In addition, Cu 2 O/Ti 3 C 2 T x nanocomposites sensor also shows excellent repeatability, outstanding selectivity, and long-term stability. Thus, the Cu 2 O/Ti 3 C 2 T x nanocomposites sensor has broad application prospects for detecting triethylamine gas at room temperature.