Facile synthesis of Au-decorated α-Fe2O3/rGO ternary hybrid structure nanocomposites for enhanced triethylamine gas-sensing properties

The preparation of hybrid nanostructures is vitally important to both basic research and actual applications. In this work, a novel hybrid structure of ternary α-Fe2O3/rGO/Au nanocomposites was favorably fabricated though a facile two-step hydrothermal route and subsequent in-situ reducing procedure. The characterization results indicated that the Au nanoparticles with sizes of 20–30 nm were modified on α-Fe2O3 nanocubes with a size range of 180–230 nm and were homogeneously anchored on the appearance of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets. Gas-sensing test results demonstrated that the ternary hybrid structure exhibited improved triethylamine (TEA)-sensing performances such as the highest response (43.6–100 ppm TEA), fast response/recovery rate (5/7 s), and better selectivity (ethanol, ammonia, methanol, formaldehyde, trimethylamine, acetone). This work is expected to propose beneficial reference for the development of complex ternary nanocomposites for TEA detection in the future.