Rhodium Oxide Surface-Loaded Gas Sensors

Nanomaterials

David Degler¹  Mounib Bahri²  Ovidiu Ersen²  DmitryE. Doronkin³  Anna Zimina³  Jan-Dierk Grunwaldt³  Nicolae Barsan⁴  Sina Herrmann⁴  Inci Boehme⁴  Helena Brinkmann⁴  Benjamin Junker⁴  Udo Weimar⁴  Anna Staerz⁴ 

[1] European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38043 Grenoble, France;Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg (IPCMS), UMR 7504 CNRS-Université de Strasbourg, 23 rue du Lœss, F-67034 Strasbourg cedex 2, France;Institute of Catalysis Research and Technology (IKFT) and Institute for Chemical Technology and Polymer Chemistry (ITCP), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Kaiserstr. 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany;Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry (IPTC), University of Tuebingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 15, D-72076 Tuebingen, Germany;

关键词: gas sensors;    surface-loading;    DRIFT spectroscopy;    X-ray absorption spectroscopy;    Fermi-level pinning;   

DOI  :  10.3390/nano8110892

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

In order to increase their stability and tune-sensing characteristics, metal oxides are often surface-loaded with noble metals. Although a great deal of empirical work shows that surface-loading with noble metals drastically changes sensing characteristics, little information exists on the mechanism. Here, a systematic study of sensors based on rhodium-loaded WO₃, SnO₂, and In₂O₃—examined using X-ray diffraction, high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy, direct current (DC) resistance measurements, operando diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy, and operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy—is presented. Under normal sensing conditions, the rhodium clusters were oxidized. Significant evidence is provided that, in this case, the sensing is dominated by a Fermi-level pinning mechanism, i.e., the reaction with the target gas takes place on the noble-metal cluster, changing its oxidation state. As a result, the heterojunction between the oxidized rhodium clusters and the base metal oxide was altered and a change in the resistance was detected. Through measurements done in low-oxygen background, it was possible to induce a mechanism switch by reducing the clusters to their metallic state. At this point, there was a significant drop in the overall resistance, and the reaction between the target gas and the base material was again visible. For decades, noble metal loading was used to change the characteristics of metal-oxide-based sensors. The study presented here is an attempt to clarify the mechanism responsible for the change. Generalities are shown between the sensing mechanisms of different supporting materials loaded with rhodium, and sample-specific aspects that must be considered are identified.

【 授权许可】

Unknown