Ionic liquid([Cmim][PF])-assisted synthesis of TiO /TiO (PO) nanosheets and the chemoresistive gas sensing of trimethylamine.

The architecture of PO modified 2D TiO nanosheets was constructed by ionic liquids (ILs)-assisted hydrothermal method. The nanosheet structure can be regulated by the addition of different amount of ionic liquid. Using the composite nanosheets  a chemoresistive gas sensor was prepared for trimethylamine (TMA) detection. Most reported TMA sensors need to be operated at a relatively high operating temperature, but in this paper, the as-synthesized PO-modified 2D TiO/TiO(PO) nanosheet sensor has high response (S = 87.46), short response time (14.6 s), and good reproducibility to 100 ppm TMA gas, when the temperature is 170 °C. In contrast to the single-phase TiO sensor, the gas-sensing property of the composite one is obviously enhanced. Moreover, its response shows excellent linear relationship with TMA concentration from 0.2 to 500 ppm, and a detection limit of 0.2 ppm. The TMA detection mechanism was investigated by analyzing the changes of the surface adsorption oxygen content by XPS and gaseous products using gas chromatography after the sensor was in contact with TMA.