article · Materials Today Communications
Porous cobalt oxide nanorods have been developed to detect benzene vapour at a low operating temperature of 75 degrees Celsius. The nanostructures were produced through a hydrothermal method across reaction temperatures between 120 and 220 degrees Celsius. Lower temperatures yielded one-dimensional mesoporous nanorods, whereas higher temperatures led to plate-like and block-like shapes. The nanorods synthesised at 140 degrees Celsius achieved a response of 361 towards 5 parts per million of benzene, alongside a sensitivity of 92 per part per million and a theoretical detection limit of 1.9 parts per billion. This performance stems from the high surface porosity, continuous electrical pathways in the rod shape, and the catalytic oxidation of benzene by cobalt oxide. The sensing material also maintained performance after 304 days of storage, functioning under both dry air and humid conditions.
Benzene is a harmful volatile compound that poses severe health hazards even at trace levels. Detecting it traditionally demands high temperatures and considerable energy. Creating materials that identify minute concentrations of benzene at low operating temperatures improves safety monitoring efficiency, decreases power requirements, and offers reliable performance across humid conditions and prolonged storage periods.
This work demonstrates potential applications in low-power benzene detection devices for environmental monitoring and workplace safety. The primary users would include sensor manufacturers and industrial hygiene specialists seeking sensitive air-quality tools. Given that the sensor was assessed as a laboratory material with long-term storage tests and humidity checks, it remains at an early applied testing stage, requiring device integration and field trials before commercial use.
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This study reports on the noble gas sensing properties of Co3O4 nanostructures for the detection of benzene vapour at a low functional temperature of 75 ˚C. The Co3O4 nanostructures were synthesized hydrothermally at different reaction temperatures ranging from 120 ˚C to 220 ˚C. Surface morphology analysis of the nanostructures revealed the formation of 1-D mesoporous nanorods at lower reaction temperatures, i.e., 120 ˚C and 140 ˚C, while synthesis at higher temperatures disintegrated the nanorods and formation of agglomerated plate-like and block-like nanostructures was observed. Among the Co3O4 nanostructures, 1-D nanorods synthesized at 140 ˚C demonstrated a notable response of 361 towards 5 ppm benzene at 75 ˚C. In addition, the lowest theoretical detection limit of 1.9 ppb and sensitivity of 92 ppm-1 were observed for 1-D mesoporous nanorods. The reported ultra-sensitivity of the 1-D mesoporous nanorods is attributed to the porous surface that supplied numerous sites for adsorption/desorption of O2- ions and benzene molecules, the rod-like configuration of its crystallites that provided connecting pathways for efficient charge transportation and the catalytic oxidation of Co3O4 to benzene. Further analyses of the long-term stability of the sensor stored for 304 days and tested in dry air and under relative humidity were discussed in detail as well as the sensing mechanism induced by surface oxygen and benzene gas adsorption.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.mtcomm.2024.108426
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