Ultrahigh sensitive and selective triethylamine sensor based on h-BN modified MoO3 nanowires

In this work, a novel structure of 1D MoO₃ nanowires wrapped by 2D hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) was synthesized via a simple solvothermal method with subsequent annealing process for triethylamine (TEA) detection. The samples were characterized by XPS, SEM, HRTEM and N₂ adsorption-desorption. Gas sensing performance test results illuminate that the typical 2 wt% h-BN/MoO₃ sensor possesses an ultrahigh response (8616) toward 500 ppm TEA. The promoted sensing performance of TEA may be caused by the forming of heterojunction between h-BN and MoO₃, the increased specific surface area of h-BN modification, providing a highly active sites for the adsorption of TEA gas, which greatly enhance the response of the sensor. The adsorption energy of a single oxygen molecule on MoO₃ (0 1 0) surface was calculated by DFT, indicating the most stable site is the terminal oxygen position (Top O-1), with an adsorption energy of ?2.075 eV. This work provides an inspiration to design highly efficient TEA gas sensor on basis of h-BN/MoO₃ nanocomposites.