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Cotton-Templated, Defect-Engineered LaFeO₃ Ceramics Coupled with MXene for Low-Temperature, Selective NO₂ Sensing

Yikun Wang, Wei Zhao, Yang Chen

Journal of Ceramic Science and Technology, Vol. 17, No. 2 (2026), pp. 139-150

DOI: 10.4416/JCST2025-00028

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Abstract

This study reports on the rational design of a high-performance, low-temperature nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas sensor with a multi-scale material engineering strategy that integrates cotton-templated morphology control, oxygen vacancy defect engineering, and MXene heterostructuring. Porous LaFeO3 ceramics synthesized via cotton biotemplating exhibited a fourfold increase in surface area (65.8 m²/g) compared with pristine LaFeO3 (15.2 m²/g), while controlled reducing-atmosphere calcination induced a high oxygen vacancy fraction of 25.3 %, as confirmed by XPS analysis. Coupling defect-engineered LaFeO3 (DE-LFO) with Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets is expected to form a p-p contact that amplifies sensing. The optimized DE-LFO/MX-4 composite demonstrated an ultrahigh response of 14.2 (S = Ra/Rg) toward 5 ppm NO2 at 25 °C, more than 11 times higher than pristine LaFeO3, with exceptionally fast response and recovery times of 8 s and 25 s, respectively. The sensor showed reliable detection down to 12 ppb, linear response in the 0.1 – 2 ppm range (R² = 0.995), and outstanding selectivity with a coefficient > 10 against common interferents (NH3, CO, CH4, H2S, ethanol). Long-term testing confirmed stable performance over 30 days with  75 % response even at 80 % RH. Comparative benchmarking against reported MXene-based systems highlights the unique synergy of hierarchical porosity, defect-rich LaFeO3, and MXene interfacial amplification in enabling ultra-sensitive, rapid, and stable room-temperature NO2 sensing. This work not only demonstrates a promising candidate for real-world environmental monitoring and wearable applications but also establishes a versatile paradigm combining biotemplating, defect engineering, and 2D coupling for next-generation gas sensor development

Keywords

Biotemplating strategy, oxygen vacancy engineering, heterojunction amplification, porous perovskite oxide, environmental monitoring

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