Sea urchin-like mesoporous WO3 (SUS-WO3) for sensitive 3-hydroxy-2-butanone biomarker detection

In this work, three-dimensional sea urchin-like tungsten oxide was successfully synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method. As-synthesized crystals were examined by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis. The obtained three-dimensional sea urchin-like WO3 has a mesoporous structure composed of interconnected nanorods, which is conducive to the diffusion of gaseous molecules and facilitates an optimal utilization as sensing material. The fabricated gas sensor not only responds to the biomarker 3-hydroxy-2-butanone of Listeria monocytogenes (LM) but also possesses an excellent sensing performance with a high sensitivity (response values of 188.5 to 50 ppm), low detection limit (0.5 ppm), and prompt response (response time 7 s and recovery time 13 s). These results suggest that sea urchin-like tungsten oxide is a potential sensor material for the immediate detection of LM in food products.