Enhanced n-butanol sensing properties based on Y-doped BiFeO 3 nanofibers

Abstract Effective detection of n-butanol is essential for human health and environmental protection. Bismuth ferrite is a gas-sensitive material candidate with excellent potential, and rare earth element doping is an effective modification strategy to enhance the gas-sensitive performances of gas sensors. In this work, a series of Y-doped BiFeO₃ nanofibers (BFO, 1% Y-BFO, 3% Y-BFO and 5% Y-BFO) were prepared by electrospinning. Among them, the gas sensors based on 3% Y-BFO nanofibers exhibited significantly enhanced gas sensing performances for n-butanol. At an optimum operating temperature of 150oC, the synthesized 3% Y-BFO sensor has a response of 60.2 and a response/recovery time of 9/47 s for 100 ppm n-butanol. Additionally, it has a lower limit of detection as low as 0.5 ppm and excellent repeatability. Therefore, gas sensors based on Y-doped BiFeO₃ nanofibers represent a promising solution for the efficient detection of n-butanol.