Maillard Reaction Inspired Microexplosion toward Fast Synthesis of Two-Dimensional Mesoporous Tin Oxides for...

Two-dimensional (2D) mesoporous transition metal oxides are highly desired in various applications, but their fast and low-cost synthesis remains a great challenge. Herein, a Maillard reaction inspired microexplosion approach is applied to rapidly synthesize ultrathin 2D mesoporous tin oxide (mSnO₂). During the microexplosion between granular ammonia nitrate with melanoidin at high temperature, the organic species can be carbonized and expanded rapidly due to the instantaneous release of gases, thus producing ultrathin carbonaceous templates with rich functional groups to effectively anchor SnO₂ nanoparticles on the surface. The subsequent removal of carbonaceous templates via calcination in air results in the formation of 2D mSnO₂ due to the confinement effect of the templates. Pd nanoparticles are controllably deposited on the surface of 2D mSnO₂ via in situ reduction, forming ultrathin 2D Pd/mSnO₂ nanocomposites with thicknesses of 6-8 nm. Owing to the unique 2D mesoporous structure with rich oxygen defects and highly exposed metal-metal oxide interfaces, 2D Pd/mSnO₂ exhibits excellent sensing performance toward acetone with high sensitivity, a short response time, and good selectivity under low working temperature (100 °C). This fast and convenient microexplosion synthesis strategy opens up the possibility of constructing 2D porous functional materials for various applications including high-performance gas sensors.