Amid escalating environmental pollution and growing public health concerns, high-performance gas sensors have emerged as highly promising candidates for environmental monitoring and industrial safety applications. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are ideal candidates for next-generation gas sensing materials due to their highly tunable structures, abundant active sites, and good surface chemistry. However, MOFs generally suffer from bottlenecks such as low electron transport efficiency and complex response mechanisms, severely limiting their device performance. In this thesis study, a series of strategies to enhance the gas sensing performance are proposed and implemented. Cu-MOF nanosheets exhibit excellent performance in the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), highlighting the critical role of the "local conversion mechanism" in enhancing sensing performance and offering a novel strategy for the design of high-performance MOF-based sensors. Moreover, the intrinsic construction of electron transport pathways within the MOF framework is demonstrated to be feasible. Zn-MOF-derived nitrogen-doped graphitized carbon materials were synthesized by temperature sensitivity. These features endow the MOF-based material with efficient electron conduction networks and abundant active sites, enabling rapid and highly selective detection of H2S at parts-per-billion (ppb) levels. The ZnO material with controllable grain boundaries is derived from Zn MOF, and the Schottky barrier between the ZnO and Au electrodes is jointly adjusted to realize the H2S sensor with the best response to H2S in the current literature. In addition, the preliminary application of COF materials in SO2 detection, forming a research system of sensing materials with contrasting structures and different response mechanisms. To sum up, by centering on electron transport modulation, this study proposes a comprehensive design paradigm for MOF-based gas sensing materials, paving the way for future advances in flexible sensing technologies, adaptive electronics, and smart environmental monitoring platforms.
Wei Wang received his bachelor's degree from Yan'an University, focusing on the synthesis of photocatalytic materials and study on water purification. He then obtained his MSc at Northwest University (China mainland), focusing on the synthesis and EMW absorbing performance of electromagnetic shielding materials. After he completed his MSc, he was awarded by CSC scholarship to pursue his PhD degree in abroad. Wei Wang joined our chair in winter 2022. His PhD topic focuses on nanostructured materials for energy storage and electromagnetic wave absorbing (EMWA) applications.
Amid escalating environmental pollution and growing public health concerns, high-performance gas sensors have emerged as highly promising candidates for environmental monitoring and industrial safety applications. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are ideal candidates for next-generation gas sensing materials due to their highly tunable structures, abundant active sites, and good surface chemistry. However, MOFs generally suffer from bottlenecks such as low electron transport efficiency and complex response mechanisms, severely limiting their device performance. In this thesis study, a series of strategies to enhance the gas sensing performance are proposed and implemented. Cu-MOF nanosheets exhibit excellent performance in the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), highlighting the critical role of the "local conversion mechanism" in enhancing sensing performance and offering a novel strategy for the design of high-performance MOF-based sensors. Moreover, the intrinsic construction of electron transport pathways within the MOF framework is demonstrated to be feasible. Zn-MOF-derived nitrogen-doped graphitized carbon materials were synthesized by temperature sensitivity. These features endow the MOF-based material with efficient electron conduction networks and abundant active sites, enabling rapid and highly selective detection of H2S at parts-per-billion (ppb) levels. The ZnO material with controllable grain boundaries is derived from Zn MOF, and the Schottky barrier between the ZnO and Au electrodes is jointly adjusted to realize the H2S sensor with the best response to H2S in the current literature. In addition, the preliminary application of COF materials in SO2 detection, forming a research system of sensing materials with contrasting structures and different response mechanisms. To sum up, by centering on electron transport modulation, this study proposes a comprehensive design paradigm for MOF-based gas sensing materials, paving the way for future advances in flexible sensing technologies, adaptive electronics, and smart environmental monitoring platforms.
Wei Wang received his bachelor's degree from Yan'an University, focusing on the synthesis of photocatalytic materials and study on water purification. He then obtained his MSc at Northwest University (China mainland), focusing on the synthesis and EMW absorbing performance of electromagnetic shielding materials. After he completed his MSc, he was awarded by CSC scholarship to pursue his PhD degree in abroad. Wei Wang joined our chair in winter 2022. His PhD topic focuses on nanostructured materials for energy storage and electromagnetic wave absorbing (EMWA) applications.
