Novel gas sensor for ZIF-8 modified mould-derived carbon: for the detection of ethylene glycol at room temperature

Ethylene glycol (C 2 H 6 O 2 ) is an organic compound widely used in industry and daily life. However, it is toxic to animals and humans and can cause serious health problems when ingested. It is important to explore new sensing materials to achieve effective detection of C 2 H 6 O 2 . In this work, pumpkin shaped aspergillus niger with submicron scale has been cultured, aspergillus niger-derived carbon (ANDC) was prepared by simple carbonization, and then novel ANDC/ZIF-8 composite was prepared using a solvothermal method. ANDC/ZIF-8 exhibits considerable selectivity for C 2 H 6 O 2 at room temperature, and the detection limit was 0.84 ppm and the response/recovery time was 13.9/10.6   s, respectively. Compared to ANDC, the gas sensitive performance of ANDC/ZIF-8 composite is greatly improved. This enhancement should be mainly attributed to the formation of heterogeneous junctions and hydrogen bonding interaction between ZIF-8 and C 2 H 6 O 2 . In this way, the mould with regular shapes produced by biomanufacturing was prepared into biochar, which in turn created a new type of gas sensing material and pioneered the introduction of biomanufacturing into the preparation process of gas sensing materials.