Ethanol sensing properties of tungsten oxide nanocubes prepared by a urea-assisted hydrothermal method

摘要

A facile hydrothermal process has been employed to synthesize WO_3 nanocubes using urea as an assistant agent. The crystal structure and morphology of WO_3 nanocubes have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microcopy (SEM) and transmission electron microcopy (TEM). XRD, SEM and TEM images of the products illustrate that WO_3 square nanostructures have a single orthorhombic phase, length of ～ 100-200 nm and thickness of ～ 40 nm. The ethanol sensing property of as-prepared tungsten oxide nanocubes is studied at ethanol concentration of 10-1000 ppm and working temperature of 160-400°C. The result shows that the WO_3 nanocubes have high sensitivity to ethanol because of their small size and special morphology.