Synthesis of Ti3C2Tx nanosheets / ZnO nanowires composite material for NO2 gas sensing

NO2 is a toxic gas that poses a significant threat to the environment and human health. In this work, one-dimensional ZnO nanowires and two-dimensional layered titanium carbide (Ti3C2TX) have been prepared by hydrothermal and selective chemical etching methods, respectively. The Ti3C2TX/ZnO composites are synthesized by a facile electrostatic self-assembly method. The characterization results indicate that the ZnO nanowires are uniformly dispersed on the surface of layered Ti3C2TX to form a p-n heterostructure. Meanwhile, the gas sensitive performance of Ti3C2TX/ZnO composite material is investigated and compared with that of pure Ti3C2Tx. The results reveal that the composite exhibits a high selectivity as well as sensitivity with a response value (S = Rg/Ra) of 18.66 to 100 ppm NO2 at 250 ℃, which is 4.3 times higher than that of pure Ti3C2TX. This proves that the prepared composite material is an effective sensing material for detecting NO2 gas.