Pd-Loaded MoS2 Nanoflowers for Enhanced Room-Temperature Methanol Sensing

The rapid increase in environmental pollution has created a critical need for the highly sensitive detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These compounds play a vital role across various sectors, spanning industries, such as healthcare, environmental surveillance, as well as the food and agriculture sectors. Pristine MoS2 and (1%, 2%, and 4%) Pd-loaded MoS2 are produced through a simple hydrothermal synthesis technique. Surface morphology, crystal structure, elemental composition, and surface area were thoroughly analyzed. The sensing performance of the synthesized pristine MoS2 and Pd-loaded MoS2 nanoflowers under dynamic flow gas sensing setup at room temperature has been analysed. The 2% Pd-loaded MoS2 exhibits 6.5 times response (65%) as compare to pristine MoS2 response (10%) to 100-ppm methanol exposure. Furthermore, the 2% Pd-loaded MoS2 sensor exhibits 6.6 ppb of limit of detection (LoD) and 21.7 ppb of limit of qualification (LoQ) values. The fabricated sensor has rapid transient performance having 35 s and 43.2 s response and recovery time, respectively. The fabricated 2% Pd-loaded MoS2 sensor exhibits excellent reproducibility, repeatability, and ultraselective behavior toward methanol gas in order to avoid the interference in the measurement by other gases.