Ultra-sensitive triethylamine gas sensor based on ZnO/MoO3 heterostructures with ppb level detection

Selective detection of Triethylamine (TEA) is of great significance for environmental monitoring and daily life. In this work, ZnO/MoO3 heterostructures with ultra-sensitive and rapid response-recovery for TEA gas were prepared by a facile hydrothermal method. The ZnO/MoO3 sensor exhibits remarkable reproducibility and long-term stability. Notably, the ZnO/MoO3 sensor achieves a response of 519 for 100 ppm TEA gas at 180 ºC with a detection limit as low as 10 ppb. The superb sensing performance of the ZnO/MoO3 sensor is mainly attributed to the synergistic effect of ZnO and MoO3, and the enhanced electron transfer rate of the heterostructures. In addition, the density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to explore the sensing mechanism in detail, further confirming the experimental conclusion. Therefore, ZnO/MoO3 sensor has potential application in practical TEA-detection, thus establishing a feasible strategy for promoting gas-sensing properties of metal oxide sensors.