Controlled Sn-Doped MoO 3 Nanobelts for Dual Mode Sensing of Ethanol and Temperature

Multifunctional flexible electronic sensors are highly demanded since single-function variants fail to satisfy portable/wearable electronics’ complex and growing requirements. Currently fabricated via multistep integration of single-function sensors, developing a single multifunctional sensing material remains challenging. In this study, Sn-doped MoO 3 (Sn x Mo 1– x O 3 ) nanobelts were fabricated into a dual-mode sensor for ethanol gas and temperature detection. The Sn 0.05 Mo 0.95 O 3 sensor detected ethanol at an ultralow concentration of 0.1 ppm at room temperature. Its response to 10 ppm of ethanol was 2.1 times higher than that of pure MoO 3 sensor. In addition, the Sn 0.05 Mo 0.95 O 3 temperature sensor demonstrated a negative temperature coefficient of resistance (TRC) of −0.0183 °C – 1, an 8-fold improvement over pure MoO 3 . The enhanced sensing performance of Sn doping can be ascribed to four key factors: a narrowed band gap, reduced adsorption energy, increased charge transfer, and an accelerated electron transfer rate. This research provides a highly efficient sensing material with promising practical applications for dual-mode ethanol and temperature detection.