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Grant support

This work was supported in part by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program through the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant 713679 and Grant 823895 and in part by the MININN-FEDER under Grant RTI2018-101580-B-I00. The work of Eduard Llobet was supported by the Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies through the 2018 Edition of the International Consortium of Real Estate Associations (ICREA) Academia Award.

Analysis of institutional authors

Alagh, AanchalAuthorAnnanouch, Fatima EzahraCorresponding AuthorLlobet, EduardAuthor

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Article

An Ultrasensitive Room-Temperature H2S Gas Sensor Based on 3D Assembly of Cu2O Decorated WS2 Nanomaterial

Publicated to:Ieee Sensors Journal. 21 (19): 21212-21220 - 2021-10-01 21(19), DOI: 10.1109/JSEN.2021.3103925

Authors: Alagh, Aanchal; Annanouch, Fatima Ezahra; Umek, Polona; Bittencourt, Carla; Colomer, Jean Francois; Llobet, Eduard

Affiliations

Josef Stefan Inst Ljubljana, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia - Author
Univ Mons, Plasma Surface Interact Chem, B-7000 Mons, Belgium - Author
Univ Namur, Belgian Natl Fund Res, B-5000 Namur, Belgium - Author
Univ Rovira & Virgili, Dept Elect Elect Engn & Automat, Tarragona 43007, Spain - Author

Abstract

Herein, we report for the first time on the fabrication of a hybrid material consisting of Cu2O nanoparticles-decorated multilayered tungsten disulfide nanostructures and demonstrate their remarkable gas sensing characteristics towards hydrogen sulfide gas. In the first step, a continuous film of WS2 was deposited directly on commercial alumina substrate by adopting a facile route combining aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition with H-2 free atmospheric pressure CVD technique. For functionalization an additional step of synthesis was added where copper oxide nanoparticles were grown and deposited directly over as-grown tungsten disulfide at low temperature (i.e., 150 degrees C) using a simple and cost-effective technique. The morphological, structural and chemical characteristics were investigated using FESEM, TEM, and EDX spectroscopy. The gas-sensing studies performed shows that this hybrid nanomaterial has excellent sensitivity towards hydrogen sulfide (11-times increase in response compared to that of pristine WS2 sensor) at moderate temperature (150 degrees C). Additionally, functionalization of pristine WS2 sensor with Cu2O nanoparticles further enhances the gas sensing performance towards the targeted gas even at room temperature (13-times increase in response compared with that of pristine WS2 sensor). Moreover, results obtained from humidity cross-sensitivity of Cu2O-WS2 sensor indicates superior gas sensing response (with a negligible decrease in response) as compared to pristine WS2 sensor, when ambient humidity is increased to 50%, which is rarely found in metal oxide-based sensors. This study could add a significant research value in the gas sensor domain.

Keywords

2dAerosol-assisted chemical vapor depositionsAluminaAluminum oxideApcvdAtmospheric humidityAtmospheric pressureAtmospheric pressure cvdChemical characteristicChemical detectionChemical vapor depositionCopper oxide nanoparticlesCopper oxidesCost effectivenessCu2oCu?oGas detectorsGas sensing characteristicsGas sensing electrodesGas sensing responseGas sensorGasesH2sH?sHybrid materialsHydrogen sulfideHydrogen sulfide gasMetalsModerate temperatureNanoparticlesNanostructured materialsOxide mineralsSensing propertiesSulfur compoundsSulfur determinationSynthesis (chemical)TemperatureTmdsTungsten compoundsWs2Ws?

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Ieee Sensors Journal due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2021, it was in position 14/64, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Instruments & Instrumentation.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.14. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.05 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 2.36 (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-23, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 17
  • Scopus: 18
  • OpenCitations: 14

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-23:

  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 15 (PlumX).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Belgium; Slovenia.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Alagh, Aanchal) and Last Author (Llobet Valero, Eduard).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Annanouch, Fatima Ezahra.