Construction of C-N/SnO2/Co3O4 microspheres with improvable electronic transmission for enhanced triethylamine gas-sensing performance

Composition-tunable C-N/SnO2/Co3O4 microspheres with available gas-sensing behavior were successfully fabricated via a facile electrospinning technology, mainly achieved by different adding amounts of ZIF-67. It is found that both the introduction of C-N components and the formation of p-n heterojunction can effectively accelerate electron transmission and enhance the gas sensitivity properties of the material toward trimethylamine (TEA). The highest response of C-N/SnO2/Co3O4 microspheres can reach up to approximately 154.3, calculated to be 9 times for 50 ppm triethylamine molecules at a temperature of 360 °C than that of C-N/SnO2 microspheres. Moreover, the threshold limit value of gas response can be observed as the exposure to even a concentration of merely 5 ppm TEA, indicating their potential application on detecting TEA released during the decay process of prawn in the low concentration region.