Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In this work, we report the evaluation of a (CuO/WO3)-CuWO4 heterostructured system as a methanol and acetone gas sensor in different configurations, contrasted with the pure oxides CuO and WO3. The samples were synthesized using a modified precipitation route followed by a single thermal treatment step to induce multiphase simultaneous crystallization. The structural characterization by XRD showed that all the materials presented the formation of monoclinic CuO and WO3 and triclinic CuWO4. No additional phases were detected in the samples, and a reduction in the crystallite size of the CuO phase after the crystallization in the heterostructured system was observed. FE-SEM analysis made it possible to directly observe the morphology and the structures of the samples at the nanometer scale, showing a heterogeneous grain formation and supporting the formation of a heterostructure. UV-Vis DRS was used to study the optical properties of the materials, and the presence of two optical band gaps was successfully determined, which provides further evidence of heterostructure formation via this modified synthesis route. The variation in the resistance of the materials was observed in the presence of methanol and acetone vapors, where the heterostructure exhibited a substantial change in performance in the configuration with 40% copper precursor (Cu40:W60), the sample that presented the highest response as a sensor against these VOCs. To our knowledge, this is the first time that this system has been reported as a gas sensor, using the multiple configurations of the (CuO/WO3)-CuWO4 heterostructured system.
Source: Materials
DOI: 10.3390/ma18122896
Language: English
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,137
Award: G5463362176
OpenAlex ID: W4411458203