Nanofibers(NFs), because of their high surface area and nanosized grains, have appropriate morphologies for use in chemiresistive-type sensors for gas detection applications. In this study, a highly sensitive and selective CO gas sensing material based on Au-decorated SnO2 NFs was fabricated by electrospinning. SnO2 NFs were synthesized by electrospinning and subsequently decorated with various amounts of Au nanoparticles(NPs) by sputtering; this was followed by thermal annealing. Different characterizations showed the successful formation of Au-decorated SnO2 NFs. Gas sensing tests were performed on the fabricated sensors, which showed bell-shaped sensing behavior with respect to the amount of Au decoration. The best CO sensing performance, with a response of ~20 for 10 ppm CO, was obtained at an optimized amount of Au (2.6 at.%). The interplay between Au and SnO2 in terms of the electronic and chemical sensitization by Au NPs is responsible for the great improvement in the CO sensing capability of pure SnO2 NFs, suggesting that Au-decorated SnO2 NFs can be a promising material for fabricating highly sensitive and selective chemiresistive-type CO gas sensors.

Threelectrodes systems were used in stripping voltammetry (SW) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) instead of the expensive platinum and Ag/AgCl reference electrodes. Moreover, the electrolyte solution was used with deep seawater, which can reduce water pollution, is more eco-friendly, and has a lower cost. The analytical optimum parameters measured via CV and SW and with working ranges were obtained from 10 to 80 ug/L using fluorine immobilized on a graphite pencil electrode (FE). Under the optimum conditions, the analytical detection limit of 6.30 ug/LAu was obtained. The results of the study can be applied to diagnostic assay for natural minerals and human finger tissue.