Novel Construction of Morphology-Tunable C–N/SnO2/ZnO/Au Microspheres with Ultrasensitivity and High Selectivity for Triethylamine under Various Temperature Detections

Morphology-tunable C-N/SnO2-based hierarchical microspheres with good gas sensitivity for triethylamine (TEA) have been fabricated via facile electrospinning and a subsequent calcination process. The reaction temperature and modifying calcining technology played a dominant role for the morphological evolution from precursor fibers to microspherical shapes and the formation of C-N-decorated SnO2 phase composition. C-N/SnO2/ZnO composites with tunable crystallinity, microstructure, and gas-sensing performance were strictly dependent on the added amount of Zn element. Fascinatingly, the constructed C-N/SnO2/ZnO/Au composites can not only precisely regulate the crystal size, dispersion status, loading position, and content of Au nanoparticles but also display excellent gas-sensing properties with ultrasensitivity and high selectivity under various temperature detections. The response of C-N/SnO2/ZnO/Au composites can reach up to approximately 1970, calculated to be 121.6 and 23.6 times for 50 ppm TEA molecules at optimal conditions compared with C-N/SnO2 and C-N/SnO2/ZnO microspheres, respectively, actually representing the highest response value at high temperatures reported to date. The superior long-aging stability of sensing behaviors and phase structures can be also observed after 1 month. More importantly, novel C-N/SnO2/ZnO/Au sensors were employed for availably detecting low-concentration volatiles released from the storage procedure of fishes at 80 °C, indicating the practical application in chemical detectors and biosensors at low temperature. The novel gas-sensing mechanisms derived primarily from the combination of phase compositions, morphologies, and unique surface/interface transfer processes of C-N/SnO2/ZnO/Au composites are presented and investigated in detail, which will contribute to the design and development of other semiconductor-based composite sensors.