Enhanced Gas Sensing Performance of Nano-Structured Ta2O5-SnO2 Composite for Low Concentration CO Detection

In the present work, the superior performance of nanostructured Ta2O5-SnO2 nanocomposite homo-junction was demonstrated for the detection of CO gas at low concentration (5-10 ppm) and low operating temperature (50 degrees C). The gas sensing performance of this material is comparable to the state of the art materials reported to date in the literature. In addition, the material exhibits high selectivity to CO gas over other interfering gases such as CO2, H-2, CH4, NO2, and SO2 etc. The sensing performance of the composite was significantly higher than its individual oxides. The composite is robust and shows good reproducibility and chemical stability with low response and recovery time. The strategy employed herein to create homo-junction nanocomposites of semiconducting metal oxides significantly improved the sensitivity and selectivity to CO gas closer to room temperature and thus could pave the way for the development of efficient homo-junction nanocomposites for gas sensing applications.