Ag-LaFeO3 nanoparticles using molecular imprinting technique for selective detection of xylene

Abstract Xylene is a hazardous volatile organic compound, however, the selective detection of ppm-level xylene using oxide semiconductor gas sensor remains a challenging issue. In this study, Ag-LaFeO 3 was modified with molecular imprinting technique, in which methacrylic acid and hydroxyethyl methylacrylate are used as functional monomers, respectively. Based on XRD, EDS, XPS, SEM, TEM, BET nitrogen adsorption observations, the structure and morphology of the samples are characterized. The as-prepared molecularly imprinted nanoparticles with methacrylic acid as functional monomer exhibit high selectivity and response to xylene gas, and the response is dependent on the type and content of the functional monomer. To 5 ppm xylene, the optimal response is 36.2 at the operating temperature of 99 °C. In addition, low cross-responses to the other test gases were observed. The remarkable enhancement in the gas-sensing properties of the samples is attributed to their high specific surface area and molecular imprinting structure.