Ultrasensitive sensing performances of amphiphilic block copolymer induced gyrus-like InO thick films to low-concentration acetone

In the present work, an inducible assembly of di-block polymer compounds approach was employed for the synthesis of mesoscopic gyrus-like In 2 O 3 by using lab-made high-molecular-weight amphiphilic di-block copolymer poly(ethylene oxide)- b -polystyrene (PEO- b -PS) as a revulsive, with indium chloride as an indium source and THF/ethanol as the solvent. The obtained mesoscopic gyrus-like In 2 O 3 indium oxide materials exhibit a large surface area and a highly crystalline In 2 O 3 nanostructure framework, and the gyrus distance is about 40 nm, which can facilitate the diffusion and transport of acetone vapor molecules. By using this material as a chemoresistance sensor, the obtained gyrus-like indium oxides were used as sensing materials, showing an excellent performance to acetone at a low operating temperature (150 C) due to their high porosity and unique crystalline framework. The limit of detection of the thick-film sensor based on indium oxides is appropriate for diabetes exhaled breath acetone concentration detection. Moreover, the thick-film sensor shows a very fast response-recovery dynamics upon contacting acetone vapor due to its abundant open folds mesoscopic structure, and also to the large surface area of the nanocrystalline gyrus-like In 2 O 3 . By using high-molecular weight amphiphilic di-block copolymer as a revulsive, the mesoscopic gyrus-like In 2 O 3 with highly crystalline nano-structure can be obtained. Using it as the resistance-gas sensor, it shows excellent performance to acetone.