Gas-Sensitive Properties of ZnO/Ti₂CT_x Nanocomposites

At present, a new class of 2D nanomaterials, MXenes, is of great scientific and applied interest, and their application prospects are very broad, including as effective doping components for receptor materials of MOS sensors. In this work we have studied the influence on the gas-sensitive properties of nanocrystalline zinc oxide synthesized by atmospheric pressure solvothermal synthesis, with the addition of 1-5% of multilayer two-dimensional titanium carbide Ti₂CT_x, obtained by etching Ti₂AlC with NaF solution in hydrochloric acid. It was found that all the obtained materials have high sensitivity and selectivity with respect to 4-20 ppm NO₂ at a detection temperature of 200 °C. It is shown that the selectivity towards this compound is best for the sample containing the highest amount of Ti₂CT_x dopant. It has been found that as the MXene content increases, there is an increase in nitrogen dioxide (4 ppm) from 1.6 (ZnO) to 20.5 (ZnO-5 mol% Ti₂CT_x). reactions which the responses to nitrogen dioxide increase. This may be due to the increase in the specific surface area of the receptor layers, the presence of MXene surface functional groups, as well as the formation of the Schottky barrier at the interface between the phases of the components.