Nanohybrids of a MXene and transition metal dichalcogenide for selective detection of volatile organic compounds

Winston Yenyu Chen; Xiaofan Jiang; Sz-Nian Lai; Dimitrios Peroulis; Lia Stanciu

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-15092-4

Nanohybrids of a MXene and transition metal dichalcogenide for selective detection of volatile organic compounds

Nat Commun. 2020 Mar 10;11(1):1302. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-15092-4.

Authors

Winston Yenyu Chen^{1

2}, Xiaofan Jiang^{2

3}, Sz-Nian Lai⁴, Dimitrios Peroulis^{2

3}, Lia Stanciu^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
² Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
³ School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
⁴ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013, Taiwan.
⁵ School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA. lstanciu@purdue.edu.
⁶ Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA. lstanciu@purdue.edu.

Abstract

Two-dimensional transition metal carbides/nitrides, known as MXenes, have been recently receiving attention for gas sensing. However, studies on hybridization of MXenes and 2D transition metal dichalcogenides as gas-sensing materials are relatively rare at this time. Herein, Ti₃C₂T_x and WSe₂ are selected as model materials for hybridization and implemented toward detection of various volatile organic compounds. The Ti₃C₂T_x/WSe₂ hybrid sensor exhibits low noise level, ultrafast response/recovery times, and good flexibility for various volatile organic compounds. The sensitivity of the hybrid sensor to ethanol is improved by over 12-fold in comparison with pristine Ti₃C₂T_x. Moreover, the hybridization process provides an effective strategy against MXene oxidation by restricting the interaction of water molecules from the edges of Ti₃C₂T_x. An enhancement mechanism for Ti₃C₂T_x/WSe₂ heterostructured materials is proposed for highly sensitive and selective detection of oxygen-containing volatile organic compounds. The scientific findings of this work could guide future exploration of next-generation field-deployable sensors.