Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A graphene/TiS3 heterojunction for resistive sensing of polar vapors at room temperature

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Microchimica Acta Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The room temperature polar vapor sensing behavior of a graphene-TiS3 heterojunction material and TiS3 nanoribbons is described. The nanoribbons were synthesized via chemical vapor transport (CVT) and their structure was investigated by scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies. The gas sensing performance was assessed by following the changes in their resistivities. Sensing devices were fabricated with gold contacts and with lithographically patterned graphene (Gr) electrodes in a heterojunction Gr-TiS3-Gr. The gold contacted TiS3 device has a rather linear I-V behavior while the Gr-TiS3-Gr heterojunction forms a contact with a higher Schottky barrier (250 meV). The I-V responses of the sensors were recorded at room temperature at a relative humidity of 55% and for different ethanol vapor concentrations (varying from 2 to 20 ppm). The plots indicate an increase in the resistance of Gr-TiS3-Gr due to adsorption of water and ethanol with a relatively high sensing response (~495% at 2 ppm). The results reveal that stable responses to 2 ppm concentrations of ethanol are achieved at room temperature. The response and recovery times are around 8 s and 72 s, respectively. Weaker responses are obtained for methanol and acetone.

Schematic representation of resistance sensor for detection of low concentration of ethanol vapor. The graphene and TiS3 nanoribbons were synthesized using chemical vapor deposition and chemical vapor transport technique respectively. The 2D graphene/TiS3 heterojunction device was fabricated to make a high response sensor due to their synergy effect.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Kim JS, Yoo HW, Choi HO, Jung HT (2014) Tunable volatile organic compounds sensor by using thiolated ligand conjugation on MoS2. Nano Lett 14(10):5941–5947

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Li J, Lu Y, Meyyappan M (2006) Nano chemical sensors with polymer-coated carbon nanotubes. IEEE Sensors J 6(5):1047–1051

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Lu Y, Li J, Han J, Ng HT, Binder C, Partridge C, Meyyappan M (2004) Room temperature methane detection using palladium loaded single-walled carbon nanotube sensors. Chem Phys Lett 391(4–6):344–348

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Han J, Yang J, Tang J, Ghasemian MB, Hubble LJ, Syed N, Daeneke T, Kalantar-Zadeh K (2019) Liquid metals for tuning gas sensitive layers. J Mater Chem C 7:6375–6382

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Xu S, Zhang H, Qi L, Xiao L (2019) Conductometric acetone vapor sensor based on the use of gold-doped three-dimensional hierarchical porous zinc oxide microspheres. Microchim Acta 186(6):342

    Google Scholar 

  6. Hierlemann A, Lange D, Hagleitner C, Kerness N, Koll A, Brand O, Baltes H (2003) Application-specific sensor systems based on CMOS chemical microsensors. Sensors Actuators B Chem 70(1–3):2–11

    Google Scholar 

  7. Suehiro J, Zhou G, Hara M (2005) Detection of partial discharge in SF6 gas using a carbon nanotube-based gas sensor. Sensors Actuators B Chem 105(2):164–169

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. McGill RA, Nguyen VK, Chung R, Shaffer RE, DiLella D, Stepnowski JL, Mlsna TE, Venezky DL, Dominguez D (2000) The “NRL-SAWRHINO”: a nose for toxic gases. Sensors Actuators B Chem 65(1–3):10–13

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Wei C, Dai L, Roy A, Tolle TB (2006) Multifunctional chemical vapor sensors of aligned carbon nanotube and polymer composites. J Am Chem Soc 128(5):1412–1413

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Alizadeh T, Rezaloo F (2013) A new chemiresistor sensor based on a blend of carbon nanotube, nano-sized molecularly imprinted polymer and poly methyl methacrylate for the selective and sensitive determination of ethanol vapor. Sensors Actuators B Chem 176:28–37

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Janfaza S, Nojavani MB, Nikkhah M, Alizadeh T, Esfandiar A, Ganjali MR (2019) A selective chemiresistive sensor for the cancer-related volatile organic compound hexanal by using molecularly imprinted polymers and multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Microchim Acta 186(3):137

    Google Scholar 

  12. Choi J, Lee J, Choi J, Jung D, Shim SE (2010) Electrospun PEDOT: PSS/PVP nanofibers as the chemiresistor in chemical vapour sensing. Synth Met 160(13–14):1415–1421

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Hosseini-Shokouh SH, Fardindoost S, Zad AI (2019) A high-performance and low-cost ethanol vapor sensor based on a TiS2/PVP composite. ChemistrySelect 4(21):6662–6666

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Roldan R, Chirolli L, Prada E, Silva-Guillén JA, San-Jose P, Guinea F (2017) Theory of 2D crystals: graphene and beyond. Chem Soc Rev 46(15):4387–4399

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Lebègue S, Björkman T, Klintenberg M, Nieminen RM, Eriksson O (2013) Two-dimensional materials from data filtering and ab initio calculations. Phys Rev X 3(3):031002

    Google Scholar 

  16. Island JO, Barawi M, Biele R, Almazán A, Clamagirand JM, Ares JR, Sánchez C, van der Zant HS, Álvarez JV, D'Agosta R, Ferrer IJ (2015) TiS3 transistors with tailored morphology and electrical properties. Adv Mater 27(16):2595–2601

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Aryanpour M, Rafiefard N, Hosseini-Shokouh SH, Fardindoost S (2018) Computational investigation of gas detection and selectivity on TiS3 nanoflakes supported by experimental evidence. Phys Chem Chem Phys 20(39):25458–25466

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Liu J, Guo Y, Wang FQ, Wang Q (2018) TiS3 sheet based van der Waals heterostructures with a tunable Schottky barrier. Nanoscale 10(2):807–815

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Castellanos-Gomez A (2016) Why all the fuss about 2D semiconductors? Nat Photonics 10(4):202

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Ferrer IJ, Ares JR, Clamagirand JM, Barawi M, Sánchez C (2013) Optical properties of titanium trisulphide (TiS3) thin films. Thin Solid Films 535:398–401

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Esfandiar A, Kybert NJ, Dattoli EN, Hee Han G, Lerner MB, Akhavan O, Irajizad A, Charlie Johnson AT (2013) DNA-decorated graphene nanomesh for detection of chemical vapors. Appl Phys Lett 103(18):183110

    Google Scholar 

  22. Lipatov A, Loes MJ, Lu H, Dai J, Patoka P, Vorobeva NS, Muratov DS, Ulrich G, Kästner B, Hoehl A, Ulm G (2018) Quasi-1D TiS3 Nanoribbons: mechanical exfoliation and thickness-dependent Raman spectroscopy. ACS Nano 12(12):12713–12720

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Wang T, Huang D, Yang Z, Xu S, He G, Li X, Hu N, Yin G, He D, Zhang L (2016) A review on graphene-based gas/vapor sensors with unique properties and potential applications. Nano-Micro Lett 8(2):95–119

    Google Scholar 

  24. Island JO, Biele R, Barawi M, Clamagirand JM, Ares JR, Sánchez C, Van Der Zant HS, Ferrer IJ, D’Agosta R, Castellanos-Gomez A (2016) Titanium trisulfide (TiS3): a 2D semiconductor with quasi-1D optical and electronic properties. Sci Rep 6:22214

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Dai J, Li M, Zeng XC (2016) Group IVB transition metal trichalcogenides: a new class of 2D layered materials beyond graphene. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Computational Molecular Science 6(2):211–222

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Lipatov A, Wilson PM, Shekhirev M, Teeter JD, Netusil R, Sinitskii A (2015) Few-layered titanium trisulfide (TiS3) field-effect transistors. Nanoscale 7(29):12291–12296

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Dwivedi P, Das S, Dhanekar S (2017) Wafer-scale synthesized MoS2/porous silicon nanostructures for efficient and selective ethanol sensing at room temperature. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 9(24):21017–21024

  28. İyikanat F, Sahin H, Senger RT, Peeters FM (2015) Vacancy formation and oxidation characteristics of single layerTiS3. J Phys Chem C 119(19):10709–10715

    Google Scholar 

  29. Burikov S, Dolenko T, Patsaeva S, Starokurov Y, Yuzhakov V (2010) Raman and IR spectroscopy research on hydrogen bonding in water–ethanol systems. Mol Phys 108(18):2427–2436

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Stewart KM, Chen WT, Mansour RR, Penlidis A (2015) Doped poly (2, 5-dimethyl aniline) for the detection of ethanol. J Appl Polym Sci 132(28):42259

    Google Scholar 

  31. Tan J, Dun M, Li L, Zhao J, Tan W, Lin Z, Huang X (2017) Synthesis of hollow and hollowed-out Co3O4 microspheres assembled by porous ultrathin nanosheets for ethanol gas sensors: responding and recovering in one second. Sensors Actuators B Chem 249:44–52

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Choi S, Bonyani M, Sun GJ, Lee JK, Hyun SK, Lee C (2018) Cr2O3 nanoparticle-functionalized WO3 nanorods for ethanol gas sensors. Appl Surf Sci 432:241–249

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Jiang Z, Wang J, Meng L, Huang Y, Liu L (2011) A highly efficient chemical sensor material for ethanol: Al2O3/Graphene nanocomposites fabricated from graphene oxide. Chem Commun 47(22):6350–6352

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Xu S, Sun F, Pan Z, Huang C, Yang S, Long J, Chen Y (2016) Reduced graphene oxide-based ordered macroporous films on a curved surface: general fabrication and application in gas sensors. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 8(5):3428–3437

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Alshammari AS, Alenezi MR, Lai KT, Silva SR (2017) Inkjet printing of polymer functionalized CNT gas sensor with enhanced sensing properties. Mater Lett 189:299–302

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Zhao PX, Tang Y, Mao J, Chen YX, Song H, Wang JW, Song Y, Liang YQ, Zhang XM (2016) One-dimensional MoS2-decorated TiO2 nanotube gas sensors for efficient alcohol sensing. J Alloys Compd 674:252–258

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Barzegar M, Tiwari A (2019) On the performance of vertical MoS2 nanoflakes as a gas sensor. Vacuum 167:90–97

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Lee E, Yoon YS, Kim DJ (2018) Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides and metal oxide hybrids for gas sensing. ACS Sens 3(10):2045–2060

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Jin Y, Li X, Yang J (2015) Single layer of MX3 (M= Ti, Zr; X= S, Se, Te): a new platform for nano-electronics and optics. Phys Chem Chem Phys 17(28):18665–18669

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Yang S, Jiang C, Wei SH (2017) Gas sensing in 2D materials. Appl Phys Rev 4(2):021304

    Google Scholar 

  41. Perkins FK, Friedman AL, Cobas E, Campbell PM, Jernigan GG, Jonker BT (2013) Chemical vapor sensing with monolayer MoS2. Nano Lett 13(2):668–673

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Liu B, Chen L, Liu G, Abbas AN, Fathi M, Zhou C (2014) High-performance chemical sensing using Schottky-contacted chemical vapor deposition grown monolayer MoS2 transistors. ACS Nano 8(5):5304–5314

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Nam H, Oh BR, Chen P, Chen M, Wi S, Wan W, Kurabayashi K, Liang X (2015) Multiple MoS2 transistors for sensing molecule interaction kinetics. Sci Rep 5:10546

    Google Scholar 

  44. Cho B, Hahm MG, Choi M, Yoon J, Kim AR, Lee YJ, Park SG, Kwon JD, Kim CS, Song M, Jeong Y (2015) Charge-transfer-based gas sensing using atomic-layer MoS2. Sci Rep 5:8052

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Lee K, Gatensby R, McEvoy N, Hallam T, Duesberg GS (2013) High-performance sensors based on molybdenum disulfide thin films. Adv Mater 25(46):6699–6702

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Wu L High throughput microfluidic technologies for cell separation and single-cell analysis (Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  47. Barzegar M, Berahman M, Iraji zad A (2018) Sensing behavior of flower-shaped MoS2 nanoflakes: case study with methanol and xylene. Beilstein J Nanotechnol 9(1):608–615

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

A.I. thanks the National Science Foundation (INSF, Grant No. 940011) for the financial support of her research. A.E. would like to thank the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF, Grant No. 96011388). S.J.H. thanks the Engineering and Physical Sciences (U.K.) (Grants EP/M010619/1, EP/P009050/1) and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant ERC-2016-STG-EvoluTEM-715502 and the ERC Synergy project). We thank Diamond Light Source for access and support in use of the electron Physical Science Imaging Centre that contributed to the results presented here.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 14588-89694, Tehran, Iran

    Nassim Rafiefard & Azam Iraji zad

  2. Department of Physics, Sharif University of Technology, P.O. Box 11155-9161, Tehran, Iran

    Azam Iraji zad, Ali Esfandiar & Somayeh Fardindoost

  3. Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 1985717443, Tehran, Iran

    Pezhman Sasanpour

  4. School of Nanoscience, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), P. O. Box 19395-5531, Tehran, Iran

    Pezhman Sasanpour

  5. School of Materials, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    Yichao Zou & Sarah J. Haigh

  6. Department of Physics, Iran University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 13114-16846, Tehran, Iran

    Seyed Hossein Hosseini Shokouh

Authors
  1. Nassim Rafiefard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Azam Iraji zad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ali Esfandiar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Pezhman Sasanpour
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Somayeh Fardindoost
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Yichao Zou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Sarah J. Haigh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Seyed Hossein Hosseini Shokouh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Azam Iraji zad.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 3270 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rafiefard, N., Iraji zad, A., Esfandiar, A. et al. A graphene/TiS3 heterojunction for resistive sensing of polar vapors at room temperature. Microchim Acta 187, 117 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-019-4097-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-019-4097-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation