A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Hydrogen‐Free APCVD Synthesis of Heterophase WSe2 Nano‐Butterflies for Room Temperature NO2 Detection: Experimental and Computational Insights; 
Authors: Rizu, Mubdiul Islam; Patra, Abhilash; Annanouch, Fatima Ezahra; Todorović, Milica; Fadil, Dalal; Llobet, Eduard
Publisher: Wiley
Publication year: 2026
Journal: Small Science
Article number: e70322
Volume: 6
Issue: 6
eISSN: 2688-4046
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/smsc.70322
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1002/smsc.70322
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/533869963
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
We report a scalable hydrogen-free synthesis of heterophase 2H/1T′ WSe2-based gas sensor for ultrasensitive room temperature NO2 detection. Moving beyond conventional defect engineering, this work leverages deliberate phase and morphological synergies to overcome traditional kinetic trade-offs in 2D material-based sensors. Unlike conventional 3D structures, this open hierarchical nano-butterfly-like morphology prevents van der Waals restacking and maximizes exposed active edge sites for rapid gas diffusion. Quantitative phase engineering yielding an optimized surface of kinetically trapped 1T′ domains (∼17%) within a dominant 2H matrix (∼83%) uniquely couples the semiconducting baseline stability of the 2H phase with the rapid, metallic charge–transfer channels of the 1T′ twin boundaries. This synergistic transduction mechanism demonstrated a remarkable 40% response toward 800 ppb NO2, a theoretical limit of detection (LOD) of 4 ppb, and robust environmental stability over 40 weeks without requiring external thermal or optical activation. Furthermore, density functional theory (DFT) simulations accelerated by Bayesian optimization successfully validated the experimental findings, identifying physisorption as the dominant interaction mode for NO2 on WSe2 and providing insight into different adsorption modes on 2H and 1T′ domains. These results establish a highly quantitative, structurally engineered framework for next-generation low-power transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) based gas sensors.
Downloadable publication This is an electronic reprint of the original article. |
Funding information in the publication:
This study was supported by Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant 945413), Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación (Grant PID2022-142451OB-C21), Ramon iy cajal program (Grant RYC2022-038111-I), Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, and Research council of finland (Grant 352727).