Twinning enhanced electrical conductivity and surface activity of nanostructured CuCrO2 gas sensor

Abstract Nanotwins stand at an essential frontier of condensed matter physics research, due to not only the optimized properties, but also the theoretic value from their unique coherent microstructure. They have been ever used to strengthen the metals or alloys, enhance the electrical conductivity, and boost the photocatalytic performance previously. However, the understanding of correlation between the twinned nanostructure and the charge transport in the functional metal oxide semiconductors, especially the gas sensitive nanomaterials, is still insufficient. In this paper, twinned CuCrO2 nanoparticles in gaseous chemiresistive property are comparatively examined to explore the attribution of twin boundaries to the charge transfer and activity of Cu atoms. This clarification of the structure-function relationship may pave a new way to the insightful acquirement of nanotwins in the application of gas detection.