Au nanoparticles loaded Zn₂SnO₄-SnO₂-ZnO cubes for detecting triethylamine with enhanced response

In this paper, Zn₂SnO₄-SnO₂-ZnO (ZSO) cubic nanomaterials are prepared by a hydrothermal method, and then ZSO composites with Au nanoparticles are prepared by a water bath heating method. The Au/ZSO nanomaterials are characterized by XRD, XPS, SEM and TEM. The results of XRD and XPS shows that the prepared samples have no other impurities, and also prove the existence of Au. The cubic structure of the sample was observed by SEM. The lattice spacings of Zn₂SnO₄, ZnO, SnO₂ and Au were calculated from TEM images. The gas sensing properties of pure ZSO and Au/ZSO nanocomposites are compared. At the optimum working temperature of 240 °C, the response of 3%Au/ZSO nanocomposite to 100 ppm triethylamine (TEA) is as high as 1595.5. Lower detection limit is as low as 3 ppm with a response value of 35.3. Importantly, this paper proposes an efficient method for preparing Au nanoparticles supported on ZSO and a gas sensor with high sensitivity response to TEA.