Influence of the addition of nano-TiO2 and ZnO on the sensing performance of micro-ZnSnO3 ethanol sensors under UV illumination

Micro-ZnSnO3 particles with hollow microsphere (Wang et al., 2017), 3DFL–MC (Wang et al., 2018) and 3DFL–MC [This work] shape were prepared based on ZnSn(OH)6, which is synthesized by co-precipitation method. After decoration of nano-TiO2 as photosensitive material, the prepared sensors with those TiO2@ZnSnO3 composites under UV illumination reach the maximum response to ethanol at the same temperature of 80 °C. Moreover, the working temperature of the ethanol sensor with TiO2@ZnSnO3 composite under UV illumination can be further reduced by nano-ZnO decoration at the maximum response. The mechanisms behind the above experimental phenomena were discussed based on the band diagrams and sensing processes.