MOF-SMO hybrids as a H2S sensor with superior sensitivity and selectivity

The detection of H2S is essential due to its dangerous toxicity and extensive existence in the oil and gas industries. Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) particle-loaded ZnO nanorod hybrid is designed and fabricated as a gas sensor, which exhibits a superior sensitivity and selectivity for H2S at room temperature. ZIF-8 plays a key role in improving the sensitivity and selectivity of ZIF-8/ZnO nanorod sensor. The loading of porous ZIF-8 particles on the ZnO surfaces provides larger surface areas and more oxygen vacancies and reacts with H2S. Thus, ZIF-8/ZnO nanorod sensor has a better H2S adsorption function and transduction function compared to raw ZnO nanorod sensor. Remarkably, the response of ZIF-8/ZnO nanorod sensor to 10 ppm H2S is 52.1% even at 25 °C, which is 15 times higher than that of raw ZnO nanorod sensor. ZIF-8/ZnO nanorod sensor is able to detect H2S at a level down to 50 ppb. Moreover, it shows an excellent selective sensitivity for H2S over other reducing gases. High-performance H2S sensor is realized by the integration of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with semiconductor metal oxides (SMOs).