Bioinspired periodic mesoporous tin oxides enable steady nonequilibrium chemical sensing for enhanced gas discrimination

K Keyu Chen (School of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Frontiers Science Center for Smart Materials Oriented Chemical Engineering, Technology Innovation Center of High Performance Resin Materials (Liaoning Province)) Y Yu Deng T Tianming Hu (Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital and School of Stomatology, State Key Laboratory of Coatings for Advanced Equipment, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Fudan University) J Jichun Li (Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital and School of Stomatology, State Key Laboratory of Coatings for Advanced Equipment, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Fudan University) X Xin-Yu Huang (Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital and School of Stomatology, State Key Laboratory of Coatings for Advanced Equipment, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Fudan University) C Chengcheng Zhu (State Key Laboratory of High Pressure and Superhard Materials, College of Physics) H Honggang Chen (Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital and School of Stomatology, State Key Laboratory of Coatings for Advanced Equipment, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Fudan University) M Meihua Chen (Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital and School of Stomatology, State Key Laboratory of Coatings for Advanced Equipment, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Fudan University) L Limin Wu (School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering) Y Yonghui Deng (Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital & School of Stomatology, State Key Laboratory of Coatings for Advanced Equipment, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials) W Wenhe Xie (Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital & School of Stomatology, State Key Laboratory of Coatings for Advanced Equipment, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials)

Abstract

Periodic porous structures with interconnected pore channels and high specific surface area are widely spread in natural world. These structures guarantee rapid mass transportation and efficient biochemical reactions within organisms, thereby satisfying the requirements of complex life activities. Inspired by the periodic porous membrane and breathing process of the mammalian respiratory system, a steady nonequilibrium chemical sensing process is established to achieve high-accuracy gas discrimination based on artificial periodic porous structures consisting of metal oxide semiconductors and pulse heating (PH) technique. Owing to its highly accessible mesopores and enormous solid–gas interfaces, periodic mesoporous tin oxide (P-mSnO 2 ) facilitates gas diffusion during PH cycles and enhances the catalytic reaction between gas molecules and P-mSnO 2 . As a result, the P-mSnO 2 based sensor exhibits stable and enhanced overshoot peaks in gas sensing response curves, thus achieving superior discrimination accuracy (99.8%) for six gases under the assistance of convolutional neural network (CNN). Furthermore, the mechanism underlying the distinct shapes of the gas response curves is uncovered, revealing that gas adsorption capacity, gas diffusion coefficient, catalytic reaction barrier, and transferred electron numbers are crucial factors. This work lays the foundation for the development of single-sensor artificial olfactory intelligence and the exploration of periodic porous structures in diverse frontier fields.

Article Details

Volume / Issue Vol. 123, Issue 12
Published March 24, 2026
ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher National Academy of Sciences

Authors (11)

K

Keyu Chen

School of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Frontiers Science Center for Smart Materials Oriented Chemical Engineering, Technology Innovation Center of High Performance Resin Materials (Liaoning Province)

Y

Yu Deng

T

Tianming Hu

Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital and School of Stomatology, State Key Laboratory of Coatings for Advanced Equipment, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Fudan University

J

Jichun Li

Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital and School of Stomatology, State Key Laboratory of Coatings for Advanced Equipment, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Fudan University

X

Xin-Yu Huang

Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital and School of Stomatology, State Key Laboratory of Coatings for Advanced Equipment, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Fudan University

C

Chengcheng Zhu

State Key Laboratory of High Pressure and Superhard Materials, College of Physics

H

Honggang Chen

Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital and School of Stomatology, State Key Laboratory of Coatings for Advanced Equipment, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Fudan University

M

Meihua Chen

Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital and School of Stomatology, State Key Laboratory of Coatings for Advanced Equipment, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials, Fudan University

L

Limin Wu

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Y

Yonghui Deng

Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital & School of Stomatology, State Key Laboratory of Coatings for Advanced Equipment, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials

W

Wenhe Xie

Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Stomatological Hospital & School of Stomatology, State Key Laboratory of Coatings for Advanced Equipment, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials