Ethylene, a gaseous indicator that provides critical information about plant aging, is biologically active in plants, even at trace levels. Therefore, it must be precisely monitored and controlled at sub-ppm levels. However, the accurate detection and clear identification of ethylene has been a major challenge, owing to its low chemical reactivity and severe interference with other gases, including water vapor. In this study, we devised a novel sensor capable of detecting even trace amounts of ethylene using ZnO nanoflowers embedded with exsolved Ni nanocatalysts. It completely removed interferents via catalytic oxidation and exhibited remarkable gas selectivity (approximately 60 and 32 to 1 and 0.2 ppm ethylene, respectively) and an excellent stability against humidity variations. Furthermore, owing to robust metal–support interactions in the nanocatalysts, the sensor exhibited excellent thermal stability and reliable long-term sensing performance at elevated temperatures. This study provides an approach for facilitating the successful commercialization of ethylene detectors.

中文翻译：

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通过在化学电阻气体传感器中溶解催化 Ni 纳米颗粒进行超选择性和稳定的乙烯检测


乙烯是一种气态指示剂，可提供有关植物衰老的关键信息，在植物中具有生物活性，即使是痕量水平。因此，必须将其精确监测和控制在亚 ppm 级。然而，乙烯的准确检测和明确鉴定一直是一个重大挑战，因为它的化学反应性低，并且对其他气体（包括水蒸气）有严重干扰。在这项研究中，我们设计了一种新型传感器，能够使用嵌入溶出的 Ni 纳米催化剂的 ZnO 纳米花来检测痕量的乙烯。它通过催化氧化完全去除干扰物，并表现出卓越的气体选择性（乙烯分别为 60 ppm 和 32 比 1 和 0.2 ppm）和出色的湿度变化稳定性。此外，由于纳米催化剂中强大的金属-载体相互作用，该传感器在高温下表现出优异的热稳定性和可靠的长期传感性能。本研究提供了一种促进乙烯检测器成功商业化的方法。