Comparative Evaluation of Chemically and Green-Synthesized Silica-Modified CeO₂ Nanostructures for Time-Dependent Room-Temperature Ammonia Sensing

Danish Majeed; Syeda Sarah Zehra Zaidi; Syed Muhammad Mohsin; Muhammad Sajid Ali Asghar; Asad A. Zaidi

doi:10.36561/ING.30.10

Autores

Danish Majeed NED University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistán https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1005-8443
Syeda Sarah Zehra Zaidi NED University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistán https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1762-6530
Syed Muhammad Mohsin NED University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistán https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0799-7925
Muhammad Sajid Ali Asghar NED University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistán https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4551-1299
Asad A. Zaidi Islamic University of Madinah, Arabia Saudita https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5457-5684

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36561/ING.30.10

Palavras-chave:

Nanopartículas de sílica, Síntese verde, Óxido de cério, Sensor quimiorresistivo de amônia, Detecção de gases em temperatura ambiente

Resumo

Nanopartículas de sílica foram sintetizadas por duas rotas distintas – um processo químico convencional e uma abordagem verde sustentável utilizando bagaço de cana-de-açúcar – e incorporadas em nanoestruturas de óxido de cério (CeO₂) para avaliação comparativa como sensores de gás amônia (NH₃) à temperatura ambiente. A rota química produziu sílica por precipitação de silicato de sódio, enquanto a rota verde extraiu biossílica de resíduos agrícolas (bagaço de cana-de-açúcar). Ambos os tipos de sílica foram integrados ao CeO₂ por meio de um método de precipitação/revestimento para formar nanopartículas compósitas de CeO₂ modificadas com sílica, que foram utilizadas na fabricação de dispositivos sensores quimiorresistivos. A caracterização estrutural por microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV) revelou uma morfologia alongada, em forma de bastonete, do CeO₂ distribuída em uma matriz rica em sílica, e a espectroscopia de raios X por dispersão de energia (EDS) confirmou a presença de Si, Ce e O, indicando a formação bem-sucedida do compósito. Os testes de detecção de gás demonstraram que todos os sensores responderam ao NH₃ à temperatura ambiente, com uma rápida diminuição inicial na resistência após a exposição ao NH₃. A resposta ao gás (definida como a variação na razão de resistência) atingiu mais de 600% em segundos após a exposição para sensores novos e aumentou progressivamente com a exposição contínua por até 10 minutos. Após 15 minutos de exposição contínua ao NH₃, no entanto, a resposta do sensor tornou-se negativa (aproximadamente -11%), sugerindo saturação da superfície ou adsorção irreversível de NH₃ nos sítios ativos. Esses resultados sugerem que a sílica derivada do bagaço de cana-de-açúcar pode produzir tendências de resposta ao NH₃ amplamente comparáveis à sílica sintetizada quimicamente nas condições experimentais atuais. No entanto, uma comparação estatística completa utilizando múltiplos dispositivos ainda é necessária para confirmar o desempenho equivalente. A incorporação de sílica de origem verde proporciona, portanto, um caminho ecologicamente correto para sensores de gás de alto desempenho que operam em temperatura ambiente, embora sejam necessários testes de calibração e estabilidade a longo prazo para o desenvolvimento futuro.

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