Fe-doped α-MoO3 nanoarrays: Facile solid-state synthesis and excellent xylene-sensing performance.

• Fe-doped α-MoO 3 nanoarrays was first synthesized by a simplistic solid-state chemical reaction strategy. • Fe-doped MoO 3 nanoarrays exhibited a high response. • The high response originated from more internal oxygen vacancies and surface ionized oxygen species. • The nanoarrays have also excellent selectivity, rapid response-recovery and good long-term stability. Fe-doped α-MoO 3 nanoarrays have been synthesized via a facile two-step solid-state chemical reaction process. The Fe element was effectively doped into the α-MoO 3 nanoarrays self-assembled by nanoplates via an initial room-temperature solid-state reaction and a subsequent mesothermal calcination. The gas-sensing properties of Fe-doped α-MoO 3 nanoarrays were investigated and the possibility of its application to gas sensors was explored. The result indicated that 0.3 mol% Fe-doped α-MoO 3 nanoarrays exhibited a high response value (28.5) towards 100 ppm xylene within 2 s, which is attributed to its more oxygen vacancies and surface ionized oxygen species. Furthermore, the 0.3 mol% Fe-doped α-MoO 3 nanoarrays also manifested a good selectivity and long-term stability. Therefore, the Fe-doped MoO 3 nanoarrays are a potential candidate for xylene sensor in future sensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]