The detection of partial discharge and analysis of the composition and content of sulfur hexafluoride SF₆ gas components are important to evaluate the operating state and insulation level of gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) equipment. This paper reported a novel sensing material made of pure ZnO and NiO-decorated ZnO nanoflowers which were synthesized by a facile and environment friendly hydrothermal process for the detection of SF₆ decomposition byproducts. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to characterize the structural and morphological properties of the prepared gas-sensitive materials. Planar-type chemical gas sensors were fabricated and their gas sensing performances toward the SF₆ decomposition byproducts SO₂, SO₂F₂, and SOF₂ were systemically investigated. Interestingly, the sensing behaviors of the fabricated ZnO nanoflowers-based sensor to SO₂, SO₂F₂, and SOF₂ gases can be obviously enhanced in terms of lower optimal operating temperature, higher gas response and shorter response-recovery time by introducing NiO. Finally, a possible gas sensing mechanism for the formation of the p–n junctions between NiO and ZnO is proposed to explain the enhanced gas response. All results demonstrate a promising approach to fabricate high-performance gas sensors to detect SF₆ decomposition byproducts.

In this paper, the Ir-modified MoS₂ monolayer is suggested as a novel gas sensor alternative for detecting the characteristic decomposition products of SF₆, including H₂S, SO₂, and SOF₂. The corresponding adsorption properties and sensing behaviors were systematically studied using the density functional theory (DFT) method. The theoretical calculation indicates that Ir modification can enhance the surface activity and improve the conductivity of the intrinsic MoS₂. The physical structure formation, the density of states (DOS), deformation charge density (DCD), molecular orbital theory analysis, and work function (WF) were used to reveal the gas adsorption and sensing mechanism. These analyses demonstrated that the Ir-modified MoS₂ monolayer used as sensing material displays high sensitivity to the target gases, especially for H₂S gas. The gas sensitivity order and the recovery time of the sensing material to decomposition products were reasonably predicted. This contribution indicates the theoretical possibility of developing Ir-modified MoS₂ as a gas sensor to detect characteristic decomposition gases of SF₆.

In this paper, the porous NiO/SnO₂ nanofibers were synthesized via the electrospinning method along with the carbonization process. The characterization results show that the pristine SnO₂-based nanofibers can form porous structure with different grain size by carbonization. The hydrogen gas-sensing investigations indicate that the NiO/SnO₂ sensor exhibits more prominent sensing properties than those of pure SnO₂ sensor devices. Such enhanced performance is mainly attributed to the porous nanostructure, which can provide large active adsorption sites for surface reaction. Moreover, the existence of p-n heterojunctions between NiO and SnO₂ also plays a key role in enhancing gas-sensing performances. Finally, the H₂ sensing mechanism based on the NiO/SnO₂ nanocomposite was proposed for developing high-performance gas sensor devices.

SnO₂ nanoparticles were synthesized through the sol–gel method, meanwhile, the thick film sensors were prepared with the method of polymethyl-methacrylate PMMA pore-forming and silk screen printing. In this paper, SEM and XRD measurements were employed to represent the structure and morphology of the synthesized SnO₂ respectively. With the use of electricity chemical workstation, hydrogen gas sensitive properties were tested. It turns out that the average grain diameter of the SnO₂ particle with the structure of tetragonal phase is 60 nm. Along with the increase of the addition of the PMMA concentration, the conductivity of SnO₂ reduces significantly, but the response time and recovery time have no obvious change. The effect law of working temperature and sintering temperature on SnO₂ response and recovery time was also explored. With the rise of temperature the response time shortens and the recovery time has no obvious change. Moreover, with the increase of the sintering temperature, SnO₂ has no clear influence on the response time of H₂. However, the recovery time of H₂ shortens obviously.

Hierarchical pure and NiO-doped ZnO nanostructures were synthesized using a facile and environment friendly hydrothermal process and their structural and morphological properties were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Chemical gas sensors were fabricated and their gas sensing performances towards sulfur dioxide (SO₂) were systematically researched. Comparative results demonstrate that the optimal operating temperature of the NiO-doped ZnO sensor is reduced to 220 °C, which is 40 °C lower than that of the pure one. And its gas sensing response to SO₂ is about two times higher than the pure ZnO sensor at various concentrations ranging from 5 to 1000 ppm at 220 °C. Moreover, faster response-recovery characteristic is also obtained, and the response time and recovery time of the NiO-doped ZnO sensor to 100 ppm of SO₂ are about 8 s and 12 s, respectively. All results indicate that the synthesized NiO–ZnO composites material is a promising candidate for high-performance SO₂ gas sensor.