Monodispersed In_2O_3 mesoporous nanospheres: One-step facile synthesis and the improved gas-sensing performance

摘要

Mesoporous In_2O_3 nanospheres were successfully synthesized by a simple solvothermal route, which was performed without the assistance of any additives or templates. The obtained mesoporous I112O_3 nanospheres show high monodispersity with average size about 90 nm and pore size about 2-4 nm. The optical absorption property of the In_2O_3 mesoporous spheres was investigated by UV-vis spec-troscopy, which indicates that the In_2O_3 mesoporous spheres are semiconducting with a direct band gap of 3.1 eV. The gas sensing performance of the as-prepared In_2O_3 mesoporous nanospheres was investigated towards a series of typical organic solvents and fuels. For 100ppm of butanol and ethanol, the mesoporous In_2O_3 demonstrates sensing responses of 59.6 and 29.6, respectively. These values are much higher than those of the reported In_2O_3-based gas sensors and the In_2O_3 powder sample with similar size, indicating the highly enhanced gas sensing performance of In2O_3 mesoporous nanospheres. The obtained In_2O_3 mesoporous nanospheres appear to be a promising sensing material for environmental detection application and would also find applications in catalyst, electrode, or related fields.