Construction of Flower-like PtO x @ZnO/In 2 O 3 Hollow Microspheres for Ultrasensitive and Rapid Trace Detection of Isopropanol.

The design of a highly effective isopropanol gas sensor with high response and trace detection capability is extremely important for environmental surveillance and human health. Here, novel flower-like PtO x @ZnO/In 2 O 3 hollow microspheres were prepared by a three-step approach. The hollow structure was composed of an In 2 O 3 shell inside and layered ZnO/In 2 O 3 nanosheets outside with PtO x nanoparticles (NPs) on the surface. Meanwhile, the gas sensing performances of the ZnO/In 2 O 3 composite with different Zn/In ratios and PtO x @ZnO/In 2 O 3 composites were evaluated and compared systematically. The measurement results indicated that the ratio of Zn/In affected the sensing performance and the ZnIn 2 sensor presented a higher response, which was then modified with PtO x NPs to further enhance its sensing property. The Pt@ZnIn 2 sensor exhibited outstanding isopropanol detection performance with ultrahigh response values under 22 and 95% relative humidity (RH). In addition, it also showed a rapid response/recovery speed, good linearity, and low theoretical limit of detection (LOD) regardless of being under a relatively dry or ultrahumid atmosphere. The enhancement of isopropanol sensing properties might be ascribed to the unique structure of PtO x @ZnO/In 2 O 3 , heterojunctions between the components, and catalytic effect of Pt NPs.