Strain-regulated sensing properties of α-Fe2O3 nano-cylinders with atomic carbon layers for ethanol detection

Abstract The sensitivity of ethanol sensor is of paramount importance in a variety of areas, including chemical production with ethanol, alcohol testing for driving safety, etc. Herein, α-Fe2O3 nano-cylinders with atomic carbon layers are synthesized, for the first time, through in-situ catalytic chemical vapor deposition combined with hydrothermal techniques for the detection of ethanol. The reported α-Fe2O3@C nano-cylinders with double surficial strain effects deliver an ethanol detection sensitivity of ～8 times as compared with α-Fe2O3 nano-cylinders, ∼10 times higher as compared with its detection sensitivity to ammonia, para-xylene, methanol and benzene. The sensor also exhibits over-14-day operation stability and the minimum detection limit of 10 ppm. To our best knowledge, the performances surpass those of previously reported α-Fe2O3. Such attractive performances are attributed to the enhanced charge transfer in α-Fe2O3 owing to the double surficial strain effects of α-Fe2O3@C nano-cylinders and the efficient adsorption of ethanol with atomic carbon layers.