Morphology-regulated cataluminescence amplification for high-efficiency hydrazine sensing

The advancement of high-performance gas sensing technologies is vital for environmental monitoring, public safety, and the protection of human health. As a highly hazardous toxicant, hydrazine (N₂H₄) vapor, is widely utilized in various industrial applications, which seriously threatens ecological environment and human health. Nevertheless, a reliable real-time monitoring platform for hydrazine vapor is extremely rare. Given the multifaceted challenges and requirements, there is an imperative need to develop a novel sensing strategy that exhibits rapid response, high sensitivity, excellent selectivity, and superior stability for the real-time detection of hydrazine vapor.

This study reports the first observation of cataluminescence (CTL) phenomenon for hydrazine vapor, which is further development into an ingenious CTL sensor. More importantly, a novel morphology-engineered CTL sensing strategy based on Y₂O₃ structures for high-performance detection of hydrazine vapor was creatively fabricated. The synergistic effects of Y₂O₃ porous microspheres with interconnected porous structure as well as the capacity of oxygen adsorption, make great contributions to this satisfactory CTL efficiency. Remarkably, the as-developed sensor simultaneously manifests the advantages of rapid response, ultra-high selectivity and sensitivity. In addition, this proposed sensing system achieves a detection limit as low as 0.214 μgmL^-1, enabling precise recognition of trace levels of hydrazine. These findings expand the understanding of CTL phenomena, and provide a practical pathway toward highly sensitive, real-time monitoring of hazardous gases.

This work introduces the first demonstration of morphology-engineered CTL for hydrazine vapor detection, which proves to be highly sensitive, rapid, and cost-effective, making it well-suited for real-time and on-site detection of hazardous gases. Notably, this work establishes a new paradigm for developing advanced sensing systems to identify persistent toxic substances, thereby enabling early warnings and strengthening protection against environmental and public health risks.