Highly sensitive and selective Sb2WO6 microspheres in detecting VOC biomarkers in cooked rice: Experimental and density functional theory study

[Display omitted] •Sb2WO6 was developed by changing solvothermal temperature as gas sensors.•Sb2WO6 synthesized at 180 °C showed improved gas sensing properties.•Principal component analysis was used for gas distinguishment.•Gas sensing mechanism was clarified via density functional theory. The palatability of cooked rice is susceptible to the flavor and effective detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can avoid deterioration and improve the taste quality. Herein, hierarchical antimony tungstate (Sb2WO6) microspheres are synthesized through a solvothermal process and the effect of solvothermal temperature on the room temperature gas-sensing properties of gas sensors is investigated. Outstanding sensitivity towards VOC biomarkers (nonanal, 1-octanol, geranyl acetone and 2-pentylfuran) in cooked rice is achieved and the sensors exhibit remarkable stability and reproducibility, which are contributed to the formation of the hierarchical microsphere structure, larger specific surface area, narrower band gap and increased oxygen vacancy content. The kinetic parameters combined with principal component analysis (PCA) effectively distinguish the four VOCs while the enhanced sensing mechanism was substantiated through density functional theory (DFT) calculation. This work provides a strategy for fabricating high performance Sb2WO6 gas sensors which can be practically applied to food industry.