This work presents the design and evaluation of cerium and zinc oxide-incorporated indium oxide (Ce/ZnO-In2O3) nanocube composites synthesized via a hydrothermal process for advanced ethanol gas sensing. The incorporation of Ce and ZnO effectively modified the surface chemistry and electronic structure of In2O3 without causing significant morphological degradation. Compared with pristine In2O3, the Ce/ZnO-In2O3 sensor exhibited a significantly enhanced response of 33.2 toward 100 ppm ethanol at 300 °C, corresponding to an 8.7-fold improvement, along with a low detection limit of 0.8 ppm. In addition, the composite sensor demonstrated stable and reversible sensing behavior, excellent repeatability over 100 cycles, and long-term operational stability. Notably, improved humidity tolerance was achieved, with approximately 77% of the initial response retained at 80% relative humidity. The enhanced sensing performance is attributed to the combined effects of heterojunction formation between ZnO and In2O3 and Ce-induced lattice distortion, which promote oxygen adsorption and facilitate charge transfer during gas reactions. Principal component analysis (PCA) further confirmed the improved discrimination of ethanol against interfering gases. These results underscore the synergistic effects of Ce and ZnO incorporation in tailoring electronic structures and surface chemistry, thereby emphasizing the potential of this strategy for reliable ethanol detection in environmental and industrial applications.
Yang et al. (Tue,) studied this question.