Light-Assisted AgMoS2 and PdMoS2 Hybrid Gas Sensors for Room-Temperature Detection of Ammonia

Abstract

Using hybrids and photon illumination together is an important step toward making high-performance gas sensors. Hybrid materials have their own properties that can improve the way gas sensors work, and photon illumination can make the sensor more sensitive. There is currently a lack of understanding regarding the impact of photoassisted gas sensing properties of hybrid materials, making it imperative that the connection between light photons and heterostructures for gas sensing materials be clarified. In this article, we design and develop a photoassisted molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) based hybrid gas sensor with a low detection limit (10 ppm). Also, the mentioned sensor has robust antihumidity interference by incorporating the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect using metal nanoparticles of Ag and Pd decorated over the MoS2 nanoflowers. It has been discovered that the performance of sensing is enhanced when MoS2 is modified with Ag and Pd nanoparticles of nearly 5 nm in diameter in conjunction with green light (533 nm). The AgMoS2 displays a higher response value (76%) to 10 ppm of NH3 at room temperature compared to the PdMoS2 (43.7%) and bare MoS2 (19.5%). This improvement in sensing response is a result of LSPR in AgMoS2 hybrids and of the formation of a Schottky barrier in PdMoS2 hybrids, as confirmed by UV-vis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) measurements. These findings open up a route for creating real-time gas detection sensors that can operate at lower temperatures. © 2023 American Chemical Society.