6–10 Jul 2026
University of the Western Cape
Africa/Johannesburg timezone
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Engineering of MoS₂-based sensor toward ppb-level H₂S detection.

8 Jul 2026, 16:20
1h 20m
Great Hall ( University of the Western Cape)

Great Hall

University of the Western Cape

Poster Presentation Track A - Physics of Condensed Matter and Materials Poster Session 2

Speaker

Ntsako Jason Mathebula (University of the Free State)

Description

Air pollution remains one of the world's major challenges today. The continuous release of gases such as H₂S, CO, and NOx. The pollutants contribute to climate change, global warming, and various health-related diseases. Gas sensing technology has therefore emerged as an effective approach for monitoring and controlling air pollution. Two-dimensional (2D) layered materials, particularly MoS2, have attracted significant attention as next-generation gas-sensing materials due to their tunable band gaps, high surface areas, and abundant active sites that promote effective gas adsorption. In this work, MoS2 nanostructures were synthesised via a hydrothermal method, with the amount of N, N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) varied from 0 to 15 mL to investigate its influence on morphology, surface area, and sensitivity. Structural analyses showed characteristic peaks of MoS2, confirming the successful formation of crystalline MoS2, in agreement with the Crystallographic Information File entry MP-1434. A shift toward lower diffraction angles accompanied by peak broadening was observed, indicative of reduced crystallinity induced by DMF. Furthermore, the average crystallite size decreases from approximately 7 nm to 4 nm as the DMF content increases to 15 mL. Strong absorbance bands in the visible region were observed, and the optical band gaps were estimated to be approximately 1.66 eV in the absence of DMF and decreased to 1.5 eV with 15 mL of DMF. These MoS₂ nanoflowers demonstrated strong potential as low-temperature gas sensors, particularly for detecting H2S at parts-per-billion levels.

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Author

Ntsako Jason Mathebula (University of the Free State)

Co-authors

Dr Boitumelo Tladi (University of the Free State) Dr Zamaswazi Tshabalala (University of the Free State) Prof. Hendrik Swart (University of the Free State) Prof. David Motaung (University of the Free State)

Presentation materials

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