4084 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES, VOL. 68, NO.
8, AUGUST 2021
Room Temperature Operated Electrospun
Nanofibers-Based SnO2/PTh Sensor for
Acetone Sensing Applications
Ajay Beniwal and Sunny , Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract — In this work, a room temperature (RT) operated
acetone (C3 H6 O) sensor having good sensing character-
istics like good % response, fast response and recovery
times, good selectivity, and substantial stability is devel-
oped using SnO2 -polythiophene (PTh) nanocomposite. The
electrospinning technique is used for depositing SnO2
nanofibers(diameter ∼80–160 nm) followed by polymer-
ization of thiophene to develop SnO2 /PTh nanocomposite.
X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy
(SEM), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
results are used to examine the structural, morphological,
and elemental analysis of the SnO2 /PTh nanocomposite.
The mean crystallite size of the nanocomposite is observed
to be ∼10.6 nm. The acetone sensing performance of
the developed sensor is analyzed in concentration range
of 0.5–20 ppm at RT (∼27 ◦ C) under ∼45% relative humid-
ity (RH) conditions. The sensor showed highly stable
response with good sensing characteristics toward acetone
detection having ∼12.7% response for 0.5 ppm with fast
response (10 s) and recovery (14 s) times. The response
of the sensor reached up to ∼131.1% for 20 ppm of ace-
tone. Synergistic effect and p-n heterojunction formation at
interface in SnO2 /PTh nanocomposite are believed to be the
major factors for achieving good sensing performance at RT.
Index Terms — % response, acetone, conducting poly-
mers, nanofibers, SnO2 /polythiophene nanocomposite.
I. I NTRODUCTION
E FFECTIVE and accurate detection of several volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) is extremely important for
healthcare and environmental applications. Exhaled human
breath contains various VOCs, which can be used as bio-
markers for noninvasive diagnosis of different diseases [1].
For instance, acetone is a volatile biomarker for diabetes
diagnosis, ammonia for renal disease, NO2 for asthma, H2 S
for halitosis, and so on [2]. For healthcare applications, VOCs
Manuscript received March 24, 2021; revised May 30, 2021; accepted
June 22, 2021. Date of publication July 13, 2021; date of current version
July 23, 2021. This work was supported by the Indian Institute of
Information Technology Allahabad through Seed Money Research under
Grant IIIT-A/DR (F&A)/Seed Money/2017/Int.85. The review of this article
was arranged by Editor N. Donato. (Corresponding author: Sunny.)
The authors are with the Department of Electronics and Com-
munication Engineering, Indian Institute of Information Technology
Allahabad, Prayagraj 211015, India (e-mail: erajay116@gmail.com;
sunnymeharwal@gmail.com).
Color versions of one or more figures in this article are available at
https://doi.org/10.1109/TED.2021.3093378.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TED.2021.3093378
0018-9383 © 2021 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
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are generally monitored from sub-ppm to ppb level. The
exhaled human breath contains acetone excess of 1.8 ppm in
a diabetic patient, whereas healthy person’s exhaled breath
has less than 0.8 ppm [2]. For tracing the sub-ppm level of
VOCs, gas chromatography and proton transfer reaction-based
equipment have been deployed for breath analysis. However,
these equipment are not considered suitable for at-home or
clinical applications due to their bulky size, portability issues,
sample pre-preparation, expensive technique, and small form
factor [3], [4]. Therefore, cost effective, easily operable,
portable, and efficient resistive analyte sensors can be consid-
ered as a suitable replacement for developing breath analyzers
as they are offering significant potential in detection of VOCs.
Among various VOCs, detection of acetone (from sub-ppm
to ppm level) is adequately important not only for healthcare
applications but also for environmental and industrial applica-
tions as acetone is highly flammable and toxic analyte [5], [6].
In literature, various studies are reported for acetone detec-
tion using different solo and hybrid materials. However,
maximum literature studies have reported high-temperature
operable acetone sensors, e.g., Liu et al. [7] presented a
Pt@In2 O3 nanowire-based acetone sensor working at 320 ◦ C.
Krzeminski et al. [8] reported Kapton-based CuO sensor
operating at 150 ◦ C. Righettoni et al. [9] reported Si:WO3 -
based acetone sensor working at 350 ◦ C. Francioso et al. [10]
reported SnO2 nanoparticles-based sensor for acetone sensing
at 100 ◦ C. Similarly, several other studies are also reported
for acetone sensing at high temperature (250 ◦ C–485 ◦ C)
using different materials [3], [6], [11]–[15]. However, sensors
operating at high temperatures have major limitations like
heating circuitry requirement, high power consumption, sta-
bility issues, contact degradation, difficult to utilize in battery
operated devices, and so on [16]. Moreover, few literature stud-
ies have presented room temperature (RT) operated acetone
sensors as given in Table I [1], [4], [5], [17]–[19]. However,
acetone sensors reported at RT either have high concentration
detection ability or have limited sensing performance at low
concentrations that may hinder the practical suitability of
the sensors for different application areas. Therefore, more
investigations are required for detecting extreme low acetone
concentrations, i.e., ppm to sub-ppm level at RT with good %
response and fast response/recovery times for their possible
and effective utilization in desired application areas.
 BENIWAL AND SUNNY: RT OPERATED ELECTROSPUN NANOFIBERS-BASED SnO2 /PTh SENSOR
In the present work, an RT operated SnO2 /PTh
nanocomposite-based acetone sensor is developed using
electrospinning technique and polymerization process. The
electrospinning deposition is used because electrospun
nanofibers have high surface area to volume ratio, ease
of fiber functionalization, and high porosity, which make
them highly suitable for analyte sensing applications.
Moreover, SnO2 is used as host metal oxide for incorporating
the guest conducting polymer, i.e., polythiophene, since,
metal oxides/conducting polymers composites substantially
considered as suitable choices for analyte sensing applications
as composite materials render modified intrinsic and surface
properties as compared with individual materials [20]. Among
metal oxides, SnO2 is widely used metal oxide for analyte
sensing applications due to its high chemical sensitivity,
corrosion resistance, good stability, high crystallinity, non-
toxicity, low cost, and good electrical properties [21].
Moreover, properties like easy of polymerization, doping,
good conductivity, low cost, good thermal, and environment
stability make polythiophene as a suitable choice for
analyte sensing applications [22]. The developed SnO2 /PTh
sensor has the ability to detect extreme low acetone
concentrations with good sensing characteristics. The acetone
sensing characteristics are analyzed in concentration range
of 0.5–20 ppm at RT (∼27 ◦ C) under ∼45% RH conditions.
The novelty of this work exists in developing RT operated
SnO2 /PTh nanocomposite sensor that has the potential to
detect extreme low concentrations, i.e., sub-ppm level with
appreciable and stable % response (∼12.7% for 0.5 ppm) and
fast response/recovery times (in few seconds).
II. E XPERIMENTAL
A. Materials
Tin (II) chloride [(SnCl2 ·2H2 O), MW = 225.63 g/mol,
CDH], dimethylformamide (DMF) [(C3 H7 NO), MW =
73.1 g/mol, Merck], ethanol [C2 H5 OH, MW = 46.07 g/mol,
Merck], acetic acid glacial [(CH3 COOH), MW =
60.05 g/mol, RANKEM], polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)
[MW = 1,30,0000 g/mol, Sigma Aldrich], anhydrous
iron (III) chloride [FeCl3 , MW = 162.21 g/mol, CDH],
chloroform [(CHCl3 ), MW = 119.38 g/mol, Merck], and
thiophene (Th) [(C4 H4 S), MW = 84.14 g/mol, Sigma Aldrich]
are used as precursor materials.
B. Synthesis
An amount of 0.3 g tin (II) chloride was mixed into 2 ml
of DMF and four drops of acetic acid glacial were further
added to prepare solution. The solution was stirred at RT
for 2 h in order to prepare sol A. Subsequently, 0.6 g of
PVP was added to 2 ml of ethanol and stirred at RT for
2 h in order to prepare sol B. Then, both the sol A and
B were mixed and further stirred for 2 h. The prepared
solution was placed into a plastic syringe (5 ml, diameter
of metallic tip = 0.5 mm) to be used for electrospinning
process. Furthermore, the substrate, i.e., interdigitated gold
electrodes (IDGEs) patterned on alumina substrate (Dropsens,
Spain) was positioned at collector plate in order to collect the
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4085
Fig. 1. XRD patterns of pure SnO2 and SnO2 -PTh nanocomposite.
electrospun nanofibers. Electrospinning setup (Invenso Ltd.,
Turkey) was used with optimized electrospun parameters as
follows: 1) deposition voltage was kept at 15 kV; 2) distance
between the collector plate and needle tip was fixed as 12 cm;
and 3) flow rate was set to 1 ml/hr. The resulted nanofibers
were annealed at 500 ◦ C for 2 h for obtaining the crystalliza-
tion of the deposited nanofibers-based SnO2 layer. To obtain
the SnO2 /PTh composite layer, as-prepared SnO2 nanofibers
were treated with chloroform and thiophene mixture solution
for accommodating the thiophene on SnO2 surface followed
by further treatment with ferric chloride solution (acting as
oxidant). The thiophene (Th) monomers on reacting with ferric
chloride were forming the polythiophene (PTh). The ferric
chloride solution is obtained by dissolving 0.15-g anhydrous
iron (III) chloride in 10 ml of ethanol and stirred for 3 h at
RT. Hence, SnO2 -PTh nanocomposite layer was synthesized.
Moreover, a heat treatment at 60 ◦ C for 24 h was given to
SnO2 -PTh nanocomposite layer.
III. R ESULTS AND D ISCUSSION
A. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) Analysis
The XRD patterns of the pure SnO2 and SnO2 -PTh
nanocomposite are examined in 2θ range of 10◦ –80◦ for
analyzing the crystallite sizes and crystal structure of the
samples using Cu Kα (1.54056 A◦ ) radiation source. As shown
in Fig. 1, the diffraction peaks related to SnO2 are observed
at 26.58◦ (110), 33.88◦ (101), 37.94◦ (200), 51.76◦ (211),
54.74◦ (220), 57.82◦ (002), 64.74◦ (112), and 65.92◦ (301).
The obtained peaks are corresponding to the tetragonal rutile
SnO2 structure (JCPDS 41-1445) [23], [24]. Furthermore, the
diffraction peaks related to SnO2 -PTh sample are observed at
26.72◦ (110), 34◦ (101), 38.06◦ (200), 51.92◦ (211), 54.82◦
(220), 58.02◦ (002), 64.98◦ (112), and 66.16◦ (301). These
SnO2 -PTh peaks indicate a slight shifting of the characteristics
peaks toward higher angles as compared with pure SnO2
peaks, which may be ascribed to the coulombic interaction
between the lone pairs of electrons in sulfur (S) atom of
polythiophene and Sn+4 ions of SnO2 [25] which indicates
the polymerization of thiophene on SnO2 surface. Moreover,
the peaks observed for SnO2 -PTh sample are weaker as
 4086 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES, VOL. 68, NO. 8, AUGUST 2021

compared with SnO2 sample, which may be due to PTh

interaction with SnO2 . The obtained results are found in well
accordance with the background study [26].
Furthermore, the mean crystallite sizes obtained using
Debye-Scherrer equation for pure SnO2 and SnO2 -PTh
nanocomposite are found to be ∼27 and ∼10.6 nm, respec-
tively. The lower crystallite size of the nanocomposite may
be ascribed to the induced strain due to PTh interac-
tion with SnO2 . Moreover, this lower crystallite size of
SnO2 -PTh nanocomposite is found almost comparable with
SnO2 Debye length (2L D ), which is ∼6 nm [27], which
may leads to sensitivity enhancement for developed sensor as
sensitivity increases to a very great extent if particle size and
Debye length are comparable [28]. Moreover, lower crystallite
size also leads to higher specific surface area and effectively Fig. 2. FTIR spectra of pure SnO2 and SnO2 -PTh nanocomposite.
contributes to enhanced adsorption/desorption sites, which
further leads to greater sensitivity of the sensor toward target
analyte [29]. are having rougher and porous morphology visible from the
higher magnification images, as shown in Fig. 3(c) and (d).
B. Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) This rough and porous morphology of the SnO2 nanofibers is
Analysis believed to provide more active sites and, hence, advantageous
for enhanced interaction among sensing layer and target ana-
The FTIR results of pure SnO2 and SnO2 -PTh samples
lyte [31], [32]. Moreover, after polymerization of thiophene
are analyzed to further confirm the SnO2 -PTh nanocomposite
via an oxidant, a thin polythiophene (PTh) layer has been
formation. The FTIR spectra are examined in wavenumber
deposited on SnO2 nanofibers. Fig. 3(e) and (f) shows the
range of 2000–400 cm−1 , as depicted in Fig. 2. A strong
surface morphology of PTh-coated SnO2 layer, i.e., SnO2 -PTh
vibrational peak/band is observed around 609 cm−1 in pure
nanocomposite. The surface morphology is modified post-PTh
SnO2 and around 600 cm−1 (slightly shifted) in SnO2 -PTh
incorporation in SnO2 nanofibers, i.e., surface roughness is
sample that can be related to antisymmetric and symmetric
further increased, leading toward more active sites for target
Sn–O–Sn bending mode of the SnO2 [30]. Furthermore, the
analyte. This PTh layer on SnO2 nanofibers makes it more
SnO2 -PTh samples represent a strong shift in peak intensity
suitable for analyte sensing applications due to distinguished
in the range of 700–600 cm−1 as compared with pure SnO2
electrical properties and low-temperature operating abilities of
spectra, which may be ascribed to the presence of vibrational
conducting polymers [26].
mode corresponding to C–S bond of thiophene ring [25], [26].
This intensity shift may be ascribed to synergic interaction
between SnO2 and sulfur (S) atom of thiophene in polymer D. Analyte Sensing Properties
chain. Moreover, several strong and weak addition peaks are
The response of the developed sensor is analyzed for
observed in SnO2 -PTh sample as compared with pure SnO2
acetone concentration range of 0.5–20 ppm at RT under 45%
sample like peaks around 1150 cm−1 and 1205 cm−1 may be
RH conditions. The resistance versus time graph, as shown in
related to out of plane bending mode of C–H bond and in-plane
Fig. 4(a), shows that under acetone exposure in closed sensing
stretching vibration of C–H bond, respectively, and weak peak
chamber, the resistance of the sensing layer is increasing and
around 1644 cm−1 can be attributed to C = C characteristic
starts decreasing as soon as sensing chamber is opened. The
peak present in thiophene rings [25], [26]. Therefore, the pres-
response (R) of the sensor is determined as: R = (Rg −
ence of additional peaks and shifting of peak and intensity
Ra )/Ra , where Rg is resistance under acetone exposure and
may be indicating polymerization of thiophene monomer on
Ra is resistance under ambient air. Therefore, % response
SnO2 sample and, hence, leading toward SnO2 -polythiophene
is calculated as % R = R × 100. The % response versus
nanocomposite formation.
concentration graph is shown in Fig. 4(b). The % responses
are perceived to be 12.7%, 25.9%, 44.7%, 70.5%, 104%, and
C. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) Analysis 131.1% for 0.5, 0.8, 1.8, 5, 10, and 20 ppm, respectively. The
The SEM images are used to examine the detailed mor- responses of the sensor are specifically observed at 0.8 and
phology of the sensing surface. The SEM images of the 1.8 ppm in order to examine the suitability of the sensor
electrospun SnO2 layer are depicted in Fig. 3(a)–(d) at var- for diabetes analysis. Furthermore, the response/recovery time
ious magnifications and scale bars. From Fig. 3(a) and (b), curve under 0.8 ppm of acetone is depicted in Fig. 4(c), and
the average diameter of the nanofibers is observed to be response and recovery times are found to be 8 and 10 s,
in the range of ∼80–160 nm. The smaller diameter of the respectively. Similarly, response/recovery times are determined
nanofibers is believed to be helpful for obtaining improved for concentration range of 0.5–20 ppm, as shown in Fig. 4(d).
response toward the target analyte. Furthermore, randomly The response/recovery times are observed as 10/14 s, 8/10 s,
distributed and annealed nanofibers consisted of nanoparticles 10/26 s, 28/26 s, 24/28 s, and 32/36 s for 0.5, 0.8, 1.8, 5,

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 BENIWAL AND SUNNY: RT OPERATED ELECTROSPUN NANOFIBERS-BASED SnO2 /PTh SENSOR 4087

Fig. 4. Acetone sensing performance of the SnO2 -PTh sensor at

RT under ∼45% RH conditions. (a) Resistance versus time graph.
(b) % Response versus concentration graph for concentration range
of 0.5–20 ppm. (c) Response/recovery time curve toward 0.8-ppm
concentration of acetone. (d) Response/recovery times analysis for
concentration range of 0.5–20 ppm.

Fig. 3. (a)–(d) SEM images of electrospun nanofibers-based SnO2

layer at various magnifications. (e) and (f) SEM images of SnO2 /PTh
nanocomposite layer at different magnifications.

10, and 20 ppm, respectively. The obtained appreciable sens-

ing performance of the developed SnO2 /PTh nanocomposite
sensor at RT may be ascribed to lower mean crystallite size,
rougher and porous surface morphology, and heterojunction
formation at SnO2 and polythiophene interface. Moreover,
the sensing properties of solo SnO2 are also analyzed. How-
Fig. 5. Selectivity analysis of the sensor for analytes, i.e., methanol,
ever, the response of the solo SnO2 sensor toward acetone ethanol and ammonia, 2-propanol, and acetone under 0.5, 1.8, and
is found inconsiderable at RT as compared with SnO2 /PTh 20 ppm concentrations.
nanocomposite.
Furthermore, the analyte sensing properties of the sensor are
also analyzed for other analytes (methanol, ethanol, ammonia,
and 2-propanol) along with the target analyte acetone. The
obtained responses of the sensor toward other analytes are
compared with the acetone responses at 0.5, 0.8, and 20 ppm,
as shown in Fig. 5. The % responses are observed as 2%,
2.3%, 2.7%, and 3.4% for 0.5 ppm of methanol, ethanol,
ammonia, and 2-propanol, respectively, whereas % response
toward 0.5 ppm of acetone is observed as 12.7%, which is sig-
Fig. 6. (a) Sensor’s performance toward 0.5, 0.8, 1.8, and 5 ppm
nificantly higher as compared with response of other analytes. of acetone under 45% RH–85% RH. (b) Aging effect analysis toward
Furthermore, the sensing performance of acetone is also com- 0.5 and 1.8 ppm of acetone detection for ten weeks.
pared with other analytes at 1.8 and 20 ppm. The % responses
for other analytes are observed in the range of 4.1%–8.1% and sensor may be ascribed to the possible intra-chain conduc-
7.5%–19.3% at 1.8 and 20 ppm. The observed % responses tion in polymer under acetone exposure, whereas inter-chain
toward other analytes are found notably reduced as compared conduction may be affected for other analytes.
with sensor’s 44.7% and 131.1% responses toward acetone The humidity and aging effect, i.e., long-term stability
detection at 1.8 and 20 ppm. Therefore, sensor is found to analysis are important factors that define the suitability of the
be selective toward acetone detection as compared with other sensor for desired application areas. The unfavorable impact of
analytes. In conducting polymers, the intra-chain conduction humidity interference is more noteworthy for sensors operating
contribution is much greater as compared with inter-chain at RT [34]. Therefore, humidity impact is examined on acetone
toward total conduction [33]. Hence, selective nature of the sensing performance of the sensor for humidity range from

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 4088
TABLE I
C OMPARATIVE A NALYSIS OF THE P RESENT W ORK W ITH RT O PERATED L ITERATURE R EPORTS FOR ACETONE D ETECTION
45% RH to 85% RH at RT operating conditions for 0.5,
0.8, 1.8, and 5 ppm. As shown in Fig. 6(a), % responses of
the sensor for 0.5, 0.8, and 1.8 ppm of acetone are reduced
from 12.7% to 7.3%, 25.9% to 15.8%, and 44.7% to 23.1%,
respectively, with increase in humidity from 45% RH to
85% RH. The decrement in % response is observed more
critical for higher concentrations detection. The % response
for 5 ppm of acetone reduced from 70.5% to 32.1% when
humidity rises from 45% RH to 85% RH. This decrement in
sensing performance may be ascribed to lack of availability of
adsorption sites for the target analyte due to the presence of
added O–H (hydroxyl groups) ions on sensing surface [35].
The aging effect is analyzed for several weeks toward
acetone detection under similar conditions. The % responses of
the sensor are monitored toward 0.5 and 1.8 ppm for ten weeks
as represented in Fig. 6(b). The responses of the sensor are
found appreciably sustainable representing sensor’s long-term
stability. However, a slight decrement in % response ∼6% is
observed in acetone sensing performance after ten weeks. Fur-
thermore, the sensing performance parameters like operating
conditions, % response, minimum detected concentration, and
response/recovery times of the developed SnO2 -PTh sensor
are compared with the literature works reported for acetone
detection at RT, as described in Table I. Comparative studies
show the excellence of the present work at RT operating con-
ditions for detecting sub-ppm to ppm level acetone detection
with substantial % response and fast response/recovery times.
E. Analyte Sensing Mechanism
There are several possible reasons for good sensing per-
formance of the developed SnO2 /PTh nanocomposite for
acetone detection at RT. First, polythiophene incorporation
on SnO2 nanofibers has significant effect on the crystal-
lite size and surface morphology, i.e., leading to formation
of porous nanostructure and may significantly contribute to
more surface area and active sites for adsorption of target
analyte molecules [26], benefiting the sensor’s response and
contributing to fast response/recovery times at RT. Second,
the acetone sensing performance may be attributed to hetero-
junction, i.e., p-n junction formation at p-type polythiophene
and n-type SnO2 interface. Heterojunction formation leads
to increased depletion barrier height and distinctive electron
donor–acceptor system [26].
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES, VOL. 68, NO. 8, AUGUST 2021
Fig. 7. Schematic of sensing mechanism of the SnO2 /PTh nanocompos-
ite toward acetone detection. (a) Schematic of SnO2 /PTh nanocomposite
(b) under air ambient and (c) under acetone exposure.
Moreover, on interacting with electron donating species
resistance of the polythiophene (p-type) will increases and
resistance of SnO2 (n-type) will decreases [36]. In the present
work, resistance of the SnO2 /PTh nanocomposite is increasing
under acetone exposure. Hence, observations suggest that the
sensing mechanism is supposed to be governed by polythio-
phene surface interaction with the analyte as SnO2 nanofibers
are covered by PTh in SnO2 /PTh nanocomposite. Hence, the
sensing mechanism in the present work is proposed to be spe-
cific toward p-type polythiophene. The schematic of sensing
mechanism of the SnO2 /PTh nanocomposite toward acetone
detection is shown in Fig. 7(a)–(c). Furthermore, SnO2 /PTh
nanocomposite is supposed to result in synergistic effect,
which is believed to be advantageous for lower temperature
working, good thermal stability, and good response/recovery
of the developed sensor [36].
IV. C ONCLUSION
In summary, SnO2 /PTh nanocomposite-based RT operated
acetone sensor is developed using electrospinning technique
and polymerization process. The structural, morphological,
and compositional analyses of the SnO2 /PTh nanocomposite
are examined using XRD, SEM, and FTIR, respectively. Lower
mean crystallite size (∼10.6 nm) is found almost comparable
with the Debye length (2L D ) of SnO2 ; rougher and porous
surface morphology and p-n junction formation at SnO2 and
polythiophene interface are believed to major factors for good
sensing performance of the developed sensor at RT operating
 BENIWAL AND SUNNY: RT OPERATED ELECTROSPUN NANOFIBERS-BASED SnO2 /PTh SENSOR
conditions. The acetone sensing characteristics of the sensor
are analyzed for concentration range from 0.5 to 20 ppm at
RT (∼27 ◦ C) under ∼45% RH conditions, proposing sensor’s
suitability for medical and industrial application areas. The %
responses of the sensor are observed as ∼12.7% and ∼131.1%
toward 0.5 and 20 ppm, respectively, with fast response
(10–32 s) and recover (14–36 s) times. The impact of humidity
variations is also analyzed on acetone sensing performance
from ∼45% RH to ∼85% RH conditions. The selectivity
analysis results of the sensor (considering other analytes,
i.e., methanol, ethanol, ammonia, and 2-propanol) showed
sensor’s high sensitivity toward acetone detection as compared
with other analytes. Moreover, aging effect, i.e., stability of
the sensing layer is also analyzed via monitoring acetone
sensing performance for several weeks. Hence, the obtained
results of the RT operated SnO2 /PTh nanocomposite-based
acetone sensor evidenced its suitability for acetone sensing
(from sub-ppm to ppm level) application areas.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors greatly acknowledge the Advanced Centre for
Material Sciences (ACMS), IIT Kanpur, for providing the
SEM facility and CSIR-Central Scientific Instruments Organ-
isation (CSIO), Chandigarh, for FTIR analysis.
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