An in situ electrospinning route to fabricate NiO-SnO based detectors for fast HS sensing.

Hydrogen sulfide (HS) is a toxic and flammable chemical, even in low concentration. In this study, an in situ electrospinning strategy was developed to directly deposit the sensitive materials of nickel oxide (NiO)-doped SnO nanofiber on alumina substrates, resulting in the fast HS detection. The electrospun fiber could be deposited on to the alumina tube directly, and remain there during calcination. Using this method, the NiO-doped SnO nanofibers fabricated and manifested a fast response, fast recovery, and high selectivity at a low temperature (150 °C). A 15% atom NiO-doped SnO nanofiber-containing HS detector presented a high response (1352), low response time (23 s), and low recovery time (38 s) while detecting a concentration of 50 ppm HS at 150 °C. Compared to conventional methods, the HS detector based on the in situ electrospinning method showed a higher sensitivity, faster response, and faster recovery. Furthermore, the superior performance of the detector can be ascribed to the thinner film and non-interrupted fiber structure. Additionally, the transformation of NiO to NiS, confirmed by the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy under a HS atmosphere, suggested the main reason for the detector's high performance. The high performance of the NiO-doped SnO suggests a strategy for gas detectors, biodetectors, and semiconductor devices.