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Activation of metal oxides by light is a robust yet facile approach to manipulating their surface chemistry for favorable reactions with target molecules in heterogeneous catalysis and gas sensors. However, a limited understanding of interface chemistry and the involved mechanism impedes the development of a rational design of oxide interfaces for light‐activated gas sensing. Herein, the TiOx‐assisted photosensitization of In2O3 toward NO2 sensing is investigated as a case study to elucidate the detailed mechanism of light‐activated surface chemistry at the metal/gas interface. The resultant heterogeneous oxides exhibit outstanding NO2 sensing performance under light irradiation thanks to abundant photoexcited electrons and holes that serve as adsorption and desorption sites, respectively, to accelerate both surface reactions. Furthermore, the facile transfer of electrons and holes across the TiOx‐In2O3 interface contributes to improving the reversibility of sensing kinetics. Through this study, the mechanistic understanding is established of how the surface chemistry of metal oxide surfaces can be tuned by light activation providing an effective route to the design fabrication of high‐performance gas sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single‐atom catalysts (SACs) supported on inorganic materials have attracted much attention in numerous research fields for their high catalytic performance. However, such SACs have been limited by the low metal loading, especially on different types of inorganic supports. Herein, a general approach is presented for preparing SACs on metallic, metal oxide, and perovskite nanosheet (NS) supports to reach a high metal loading of up to 3.94 wt%, by utilizing N‐doped graphene as a sacrificial template that spatially confines the single atoms (SAs). Specifically, the target support material precursors are adsorbed onto the SAs‐stabilized sacrificial template, followed by subsequent heat treatment to transfer the SAs to the support material and to remove the graphene layer. Pt SAs on oxide support exhibits little to no aggregation throughout >10 000 min of annealing at 275 °C, demonstrating high thermal stability, as also supported by ex situ post‐anneal electron microscopy and X‐ray absorption fine structure studies. As a proof‐of‐concept, Pt SACs on SnO2 NSs exhibit high catalytic activity toward chemiresistive sensing of acetone gas (response = 95.4 at 10 ppm, 7.6‐fold enhancement compared with pristine SnO2 NSs) and unprecedented stability under highly humid conditions (27.4% response deterioration at 95% relative humidity). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light-activated chemiresistors offer a powerful approach to achieving lower-temperature gas sensing with unprecedented sensitivities. However, an incomplete understanding of how photoexcited charge carriers enhance sensitivity obstructs the rational design of high-performance sensors, impeding the practical utilization under commonly accessible light sources instead of ultraviolet or higher-energy sources. Here, a rational approach is presented to modulate the electronic properties of the parent metal oxide phase, exemplified by this model system of Bi-doped In 2 O 3 nanofibers decorated with Au nanoparticles (NPs) that exhibit superior NO 2 sensing performance. Bi doping introduces mid-gap energy levels into In 2 O 3 , promoting photoactivation even under visible blue light. Additionally, green-absorbing plasmonic Au NPs facilitate electron transfer across the heterojunction, extending the photoactive region toward the green light. It is revealed that the direct involvement of photogenerated charge carriers in gas adsorption and desorption processes is pivotal for enhancing gas sensing performance. Owing to the synergistic interplay between the Bi dopants and the Au NPs, the Au-Bi x In 2-x O 3 (x = 0.04) sensing layers attain impressive response values (R g /R a  = 104 at 0.6 ppm NO 2 ) under green light illumination and demonstrate practical viability through evaluation under simulated mixed-light conditions, all of which significantly outperforms previously reported visible light-activated NO 2 sensors., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The concept of integrating diverse functional 2D materials into a heterostructure provides platforms for exploring physics that cannot be accessed in a single 2D material. Here, physically mixing two 2D materials, MXene and MoS 2 , followed by freeze-drying is utilized to successfully fabricate a 3D MoS 2 /MXene van der Waals heterostructure aerogel. The low-temperature synthetic approach effectively suppresses significant oxidation of the Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene and results in a hierarchical and freestanding 3D heterostructure composed of high-quality MoS 2 and MXene nanosheets. Functionalization of MXene with a MoS 2 catalytic layer substantially improves sensitivity and long-term stability toward detection of NO 2 gas, and computational studies are coupled with experimental results to elucidate that the mechanism behind enhancements in the gas-sensing properties is effective inhibition of HNO 2 formation on the MXene surface, due to the presence of MoS 2 . Overall, this study has a great potential for expansion of applicability to other classes of two-dimensional materials as a general synthesis method, to be applied in future fields of catalysis and electronics.