Adv. Mater.: Bio-Inspired Nanoengineered Wood for Scalable Monolithic Gas Sensor Fabrication

Authors：

Mingwei Gu^1#, Yihong Zhong^2#, Jing Hu³, Tuo Zhang¹, Shiliang Mei¹, Hao Shen⁴, Sheng Miao¹, Liguo Chen¹, Xuhui Sun², Zhen Wen²*, GuanYu Chen¹*, Yunlei Zhou⁵*, and Haibo Huang¹*

Institutions：

¹Institute of Mechanical and Electric Engineering, Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Embodied Intelligence Robotics Technology, Soochow University Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, P. R. China

²Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, P. R. China

³School of Materials Science and Engineering, Suzhou Key Laboratory for Nanophotonic and Nanoelectronic Materials and Its Devices, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215009, P. R. China

⁴i-Lab, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics (SINANO), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, P. R. China

⁵Hangzhou Institute of Technology, Xidian University, Hangzhou 311231, P. R. China

Abstract：

Insects exhibit exceptional olfactory abilities due to the synergistic interaction between porous sensilla and sensory receptors, optimizing gas transmission and capture. Inspired by this, a scalable structure of WS₂-functionalized nanoengineered wood (WS₂-NEW) for bio-inspired gas sensors is designed. A multiscale sensing network mimicking insect receptor synergy by in-situ loading WS₂ nanosheets into vertically aligned microchannels formed by lignin removal, integrated with cross-sectional 3D interdigital electrodes is developed. The nanoengineered wood enables selective NO₂ adsorption and optimized charge transfer through engineered gas transport pathways and defect-rich active sites. With the optimized 3D electrode structure, WS₂-NEW facilitates rapid gas transmission and real-time signal transduction, achieving highly sensitive NO₂ detection at room temperature with a detection limit as low as 50 ppb. Utilizing wood's processability, WS₂-NEW has demonstrated the potential for large-scale manufacturing via simple cutting techniques. A wireless sensor watch based on WS₂-NEW for real-time NO₂ detection highlights its potential in wearable devices. This work proposes an innovative strategy for the manufacturing of gas sensors.

IF：

27.4

Link：

https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202507829