Ruthenium-decorated vanadium pentoxide for room temperature ammonia sensing.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Chemical Sensing

Background:

• Layered vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) is a promising material for gas sensing.
• Enhancing the performance of V2O5 sensors requires surface modification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize ruthenium nanoparticle-decorated V2O5 (1%Ru@V2O5).
• To investigate the gas sensing properties of 1%Ru@V2O5, particularly for ammonia.
• To understand the mechanism behind the enhanced sensing performance.

Main Methods:

• Hydrothermal synthesis of V2O5 microparticles.
• Facile wet chemical decoration with ruthenium nanoparticles (10-20 nm).
• Resistive gas sensing measurements at various temperatures (30°C, 50°C, 100°C).
• Material characterization using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).

Main Results:

• 1%Ru@V2O5 demonstrated superior sensitivity and selectivity towards ammonia compared to bare V2O5.
• Optimal sensing performance was achieved at room temperature (30°C).
• Achieved rapid response (0.52 s @ 130 ppm) and recovery (9.39 s @ 10 ppm) times for ammonia.
• High reproducibility and selectivity across a range of gases and vapors (10-130 ppm ammonia).

Conclusions:

• 1%Ru@V2O5 is a highly effective material for ammonia detection at room temperature.
• The enhanced performance is attributed to the catalytic effect of ruthenium nanoparticles, facilitating water dissociation and ammonia adsorption.
• The sensor exhibits excellent potential for practical gas sensing applications due to its rapid response, high sensitivity, and selectivity.