Synthesis of Mesoporous Lanthanum-Doped SnO2 Spheres for Sensitive and Selective Detection of the Glutaraldehyde Disinfectant

Glutaraldehyde disinfectant has been widely applied in aquaculture, farming, and medical treatment. Excessive concentrations of glutaraldehyde in the environment can lead to serious health hazards. Therefore, it is extremely important to develop high-performance glutaraldehyde sensors with low cost, high sensitivity, rapid response, fabulous selectivity, and low limit of detection. Herein, mesoporous lanthanum (La) doped SnO2 spheres with high specific surface area (52–59 m2 g–1), uniform mesopores (with a pore size concentrated at 5.7 nm), and highly crystalline frameworks are designed to fabricate highly sensitive gas sensors toward gaseous glutaraldehyde. The mesoporous lanthanum-doped SnO2 spheres exhibit excellent glutaraldehyde-sensing performance, including high response (13.5@10 ppm), rapid response time (28 s), and extremely low detection limit of 0.16 ppm. The excellent sensing performance is ascribed to the high specific surface area, high contents of chemisorbed oxygen species, and lanthanum doping. DFT calculations suggest that lanthanum doping in the SnO2 lattice can effectively improve the adsorption energy toward glutaraldehyde compared to pure SnO2 materials. Moreover, the fabricated gas sensors can effectively detect commercial glutaraldehyde disinfectants, indicating a potential application in aquaculture, farming, and medical treatment.