Reduced graphene oxide-CuFe2O4 nanocomposite: A highly sensitive room temperature NH3 gas sensor

Sensitive and selective detection of NH3 at room temperature is required for proper environmental monitoring and also to avoid any health hazards in the industrial areas. Towards this objective, a low-cost, one-step and combustion route mediated reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-CuFe2O4 nanocomposite was exploited as a high-performance NH3 gas sensor by combining the excellent electrical properties of rGO and sensing capabilities of CuFe2O4. This nanocomposite was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and N-2 adsorption-desorption analysis. The TEM images demonstrate the uniform distribution of the nanoparticles on the rGO surface and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) confirms an average particle size of 15-20 nm. The designed sensor can detect NH3 at low concentrations up to 5 ppm at room temperature. Besides high sensing ability, the designed nanocomposite showed good recyclability suggesting its potential applications for the detection of environmentally toxic gases. The enhanced sensing behavior can be attributed to the synergistic behavior between individual rGO and CuFe2O4 component.