High-sensitive and fast-responsive In2O3 thin film sensors for dual detection of NO2 and H2S gases at room temperature

[Display omitted] •In2O3 sensors could detect a minimum concentration of 100 ppb of NO2 and H2S gases.•The thickness of In2O3 film is found to be very critical for high sensing response.•Room temperature detection of NO2 and H2S gases is achieved with high sensitivity.•Maximum sensing responses of 58 and 68 % towards 5 ppm of NO2 and H2S gases are obtained.•In2O3 films are found to be highly selective towards NO2 and H2S gases.•The sensor exhibits a sensing response time of 36 s for NO2 and 18 s for H2S gases.•In2O3 sensors could detect a minimum concentration of 100 ppb of NO2 and H2S gases. In this work, the room-temperature dual gas sensing characteristics of indium oxide (In2O3) thin films towards NO2 and H2S have been studied. In2O3 thin films were synthesized by the thermal oxidation of indium metal films of various thicknesses in the range of 50–250 nm deposited by thermal evaporation method. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GI-XRD) revealed the change in preferred orientation of In2O3 thin films corresponding to varying thickness, while field-emission electron microscopy studies showcased evolving surface morphologies from individual grains to granular network with respect to the increase in film thickness. Investigations were made on the ability of In2O3 thin films to detect various low concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gases at ambient temperature. In2O3 thin films synthesized using 100 nm thick In films exhibited good sensing response of around 58 and 68 % towards NO2 and H2S gases of 5 ppm respectively, at room temperature (27 °C) with the response time of 36 and 18 s. Remarkably, the lower experimental detection limit of these toxic gases could be extended up to 100 ppb. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, a large presence of surface oxygen is observed on the In2O3 thin film. The sensor has demonstrated remarkable sensing abilities, including strong selectivity, quick sensing response, and good repeatability.