Porous honeycomb-like EuxY1-xFeO3 based high-sensitivity chemiresistive gas sensor for ppb-level isopropanol detection

Eu 3+ -doped YFeO 3 perovskites were synthesized via a sol-gel method for isopropanol detection. • Eu 0.04 Y 0.96 FeO 3 exhibits over twice the response of pure YFeO 3 to 0.4 ppm isopropanol (3.45 vs. 1.67). • The sensor shows an ultra-low detection limit of 50.6 ppb and good humidity tolerance. • Eu 3+ doping narrows the band gap and increases O V and O C , boosting gas-sensing performance. In recent years, analyzing breath has become a potential non-invasive approach for early lung cancer screening. This study synthesized Eu 3+ -doped Eu x Y 1-x FeO 3 (x = 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%) perovskite materials using the sol-gel method for detecting isopropanol in the lung cancer patients’ breath. The influence of Eu 3+ doping on structural, morphological, surface chemical, and gas-sensing characteristics was systematically investigated. It was found that Eu 3+ effectively substituted for Y 3+ within the YFeO 3 lattice, resulting in lattice expansion, increased specific surface area, and optimized oxygen vacancy distribution. Among all the samples, Eu 0.04 Y 0.96 FeO 3 (EYFO-4) exhibited the best overall sensing performance, including high response ( 3.45@0.4 ppm, more than twice that of pure YFeO 3 ), low detection limit (50.6 ppb), excellent linearity (R 2  = 99.65%), outstanding repeatability, and strong humidity tolerance. The performance improvement was attributed to Eu-induced band gap narrowing, increased chemically adsorbed oxygen species, and improved carrier transport. This study offers a promising material-based approach for constructing advanced sensors aimed at the non-invasive diagnosis of lung cancer. Download: Download high-res image (462KB) Download: Download full-size image