Research Projects

Volatile organic sulfur compounds (VOSCs) like thiols and ethyle-mercaptan (EM) are used in various industrial activities, including food, landfill sites, paper, and waste-water treatment. Exposure to EM can cause chronic impairments in the heart, lungs, kidney, and lead to chronic diseases. EM is also responsible for ocean acidification and acid rain formation, posing a significant environmental challenge. To detect gas leakage, accurate, highly sensitive, and selective sensors are needed. Low-dimensional materials, such as MOS, have been used as gas sensors, but their poor selectivity and high temperature operation have limited their use. Graphene, a semi-metallic material, has been used in electronic applications but has limited its use in applications involving charge modulation. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have taken a leading role in gas sensing applications, such as MoSe2 and MoS2, which possess a layer-dependent intrinsic bandgap and are semiconducting. Recent theoretical investigations have shown that EM molecules adsorbed on Kagome arsenene nanosheets behave like electron donors, resulting in charge modulation. This suggests that these nanosheets can also be used for EM sensing. Synthesis temperature optimization is essential to achieve the desired phase in synthesized materials. Structural and gas sensing features of TMDCs must be systematically analyzed to address phase-dependent conductivity behavior. The objectives of this work are to develop accurate, highly sensitive, and selective gas sensors that can detect gas leakage from harmful toxic vapors.

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