Calcination

Catalysis

Adsorption

Composite number

Engineering

Field emission microscopy

Transmission electron microscopy

Nanoparticle

Materials science

Chemical engineering

Physics

Sorption

Nanotechnology

Organic chemistry

Optics

Graphitic carbon nitride

Composite material

Chemistry

Scanning electron microscope

Thermal stability

Photocatalysis

Diffraction

Ethanol

Specific surface area

Nanomaterials

The SnO2/g-C3N4 composites were synthesized via a facile calcination method by using SnCl4·5H2O and urea as the precursor. The structure and morphology of the as-synthesized composites were characterized by the techniques of X-ray diffraction (XRD), the field-emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (FESEM and TEM), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), thermal gravity and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), and N2-sorption. The analysis results indicated that the as-synthesized samples possess the two dimensional structure. Additionally, the SnO2 nanoparticles were highly dispersed on the surface of the g-C3N4 nanosheets. The gas-sensing performance of the as-synthesized composites for different gases was tested. Moreover, the composite with 7 wt % g-C3N4 content (SnO2/g-C3N4-7) exhibits an admirable gas-sensing property to ethanol, which possesses a higher response and better selectivity than that of the pure SnO2-based sensor. The high surface area of the SnO2/g-C3N4 composite and the good electronic characteristics of the two dimensional graphitic carbon nitride are in favor of the elevated gas-sensing property.

Calcination Method Synthesis of SnO2/g-C3N4 Composites for a High-Performance Ethanol Gas Sensing Application