Hierarchical spheres In2S3-based cataluminescence sensor for ammonium sulfide

In the present work, three different kinds of In 2 S 3 : hierarchical microspheres A, B and C (HMa, HMb and HMc), which were synthesized by a hydrothermal method in the sodium dodecyl sulfate-thiourea (SDS-thiourea) system. XRD, SEM and BET were used to characterize the prepared In 2 S 3 materials. Compared with the other two kinds of In 2 S 3 , the as-prepared In 2 S 3 hierarchical microspheres B (In 2 S 3 HMb) exhibit the best cataluminescence response to ammonium sulfide. The response and recovery times of the home-made ammonium sulfide gas sensor with In 2 S 3 hierarchical microspheres B as sensing materials were about 8 s and 24 s, respectively. The linear dependence of the sensitivity on the ammonium sulfide concentration was observed in the range of 4–200 ppm with an excellent selectivity. These results indicated that In 2 S 3 hierarchical microspheres B would be a good candidate for fabricating practical cataluminescence ammonium sulfide sensor.