Boron-doped graphene coated Au@SnO2 for high-performance triethylamine gas detection

Confronted with challenges in obtaining lower power consumption and higher gas response for triethylamine (TEA) gas detection, it becomes very important to rational induce heterointerface to enhance gas-sensing properties. In this work, we demonstrate that the boron-doped reduced graphene oxide (B-RGO) coated Au@SnO2 heterostructure is using as the sensor material for TEA gas detection with a response of 69.1% for 1 ppm of TEA gas at low working temperature (100 °C). With the wrapping of B-RGO, the response value of the Au@SnO2-based sensor for TEA detection is boosted by 5.6 times and a detection limit of ppb (parts per billion) level is achieved. The sensors are selectively sensitive to TEA gas, which is about 10 times higher than the response to the other four gases. The outstanding sensing performance is mainly attributed to the synergistic effect of the B-RGO/SnO2 and Au/SnO2 heterostructure. The present work shows that heterostructure engineering together with boron-doped graphene has excellent potential for promoting highly selective and low concentration noxious gas sensing detection. [Display omitted] •Boron-doped RGO coated Au@SnO2 heterostructure is synthesized.•The sensor has a high response of 69.1% for 1 ppm of TEA gas at 100 °C.•With the wrapping of B-RGO, the response value is boosted by 5.6 times.•A detection limit of 100 ppb level is achieved.•The dual heterostructure offers valuable guideline for designing graphene-based sensors.