Acetone sensing properties of hierarchical WO3 core-shell microspheres in comparison with commercial nanoparticles

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In this work, hierarchical WO3 core-shell microspheres were synthesized via a facile template-free precipitation method. Gas sensing properties of the synthesized powder to acetone and some other volatile organic compounds were comparatively investigated with commercial WO3 nanoparticles. The synthesized and commercial powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, particle size distribution analysis, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller and Barrette-Joyner-Halenda techniques. Gas sensors were fabricated by deposition of powders between/on interdigitated electrodes via sedimentation approach. The results show that both sensors are sufficiently sensitive to detect 1.8 ppm of acetone; diabetes diagnosis threshold in human exhaled breath. Indeed, the hierarchical based one is highly sensitive and more selective to acetone.