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Investigations on TiO2–NiO@In2O3 nanocomposite thin films (NCTFs) for gas sensing: synthesis, physical characterization, and detection of NO2 and H2S gas sensors

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Abstract

The spray pyrolysis technique is a versatile and cost-effective method for producing TiO2–NiO@In2O3 NCTFs on glass substrates with varying molar ratios. NCTFs have been studied for gas sensing applications due to their excellent sensing properties. The films' structural, morphological, and gas sensing characteristics were analyzed. The XRD analysis indicates that the NCTFs are polycrystalline, meaning that they are made up of many small crystals. The crystals are oriented in a random fashion, which is why the XRD pattern is broad. The anatase phase of TiO2 is a tetragonal crystal structure. The NiO and In2O3 phases are both cubic crystal structures. The presence of nanostructure cubic phases indicates that the nanoparticles in the films are small enough to significantly affect the crystal structure of the films. Scanning electron microscopy images showed surface homogeneity, with small granular grains of nanostructures without any cracks. The gas sensor created using the prepared samples showed high sensitivity to NO2 and H2S gases, and its sensitivity was measured at different operation temperatures, along with response and recovery times. The optical properties of In2O3 are affected by the addition of TiO2 and NiO impurities. The transmittance of In2O3 increases as the NiO ratio increases and the TiO2 ratio decreases.

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All authors contributed that there is no associated data, or the data will be not deposited. Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

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All authors contributed that there is no associated data, or the data will be not deposited. Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

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Acknowledgements

The authors extend their awareness to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia, for funding this work through small group Research Project under grant number RGP1/142/44.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Materials for Energy and Environment, and Modeling (LMEEM), Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, University of Sfax, B.P 1171, 3038, Sfax, Tunisia

    Mohamed Abed Shahoodh Alborisha, Abdelfatteh Bouzidi & Samir Guermazi

  2. Physics Department, College of Science, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq

    Foued Tarek Ibrahim

  3. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science Sciences and Arts Dhahran Al Janoub, King Khalid University, P.O. Box: 960, 61421, Abha, Saudi Arabia

    Wissal Jilani

  4. Ministry of Education, Anbar Education Directorate, Anbar, Iraq

    Mohamed Abed Shahoodh Alborisha

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Contributions

MASA, FTI, SG, WJ, and AB lead conceptualization, investigation, methodology, project administration, validation, and visualization, as well as writing–the original draft and – reviewing and editing the work. MASA and FTI contributed to data curation, formal analysis, and supervision of the presented study. AB, WJ, FTI, and SG contributed to data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, project admi lead funding acquisition, and supervision, and provided the resources for carrying out this study. Further, AB contributed to the conceptualization, investigation, methodology, and project administration of this work. All author's construction, validation, visualization, and writing–the original draft of this manuscript. SG, AB, and WJ contributed to data curation, formal analysis, validation, writing–the original draft, and visualization of this work. SG contributed to data curation, validation, and writing–the original draft of the presented work. AB contributed to the writing–review, and editing of the presented work.

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Correspondence to Abdelfatteh Bouzidi.

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Alborisha, M.A.S., Ibrahim, F.T., Jilani, W. et al. Investigations on TiO2–NiO@In2O3 nanocomposite thin films (NCTFs) for gas sensing: synthesis, physical characterization, and detection of NO2 and H2S gas sensors. J Mater Sci 59, 3451–3466 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-024-09376-z

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