Design and Fabrication of Sm2O3 Nanotubes Incorporated RGO as Sensing Materials for High Sensing Performance Towards to CO2 Gas.

Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanosheets wrapped around samarium oxide (Sm2O3) nanotubes were successfully synthesized using a facile and environmentally friendly hydrothermal method in this paper. X-ray diffraction, SEM, TEM, high resolution TEM, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize all of the prepared nanostructures. The purity of the material synthesized, which is made up of Sm2O3 nanotubes in a single cubic crystalline phase with a mean length of about 450 nm and a diameter of about 50 nm, were verified by additional tests. The synthesized samples were used to fabricate resistive sensors, which were then tested for NO2 and CO2 sensing properties at different concentrations (5–1000 ppm). In comparison to pure RGO and Sm2O3, the experimental results showed that the composite-based Sm2O3/RGO sensor has good sensing properties in terms of response (98.3%), fast response (15 s)/recovery time (12 s), and excellent response repeatability. The formations of p–p heterojunction in the Sm2O3/RGO composite were attributed for the improved sensing performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]