Synthesis and gas sensing characteristics of SnO2 “dandelions”

SnO2 dandelions-like architectures that composed of numerous one-dimensional tetragonal prism nanorods were synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method with the help of the surfactant poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP). The structure and morphology of resulting samples were characterized by means of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The results show that diameter of as-synthesized nanorods are less than 50 nm. The sensors fabricated from the SnO2 nanorods exhibited good sensitivity, high selectivity and rapid response and recovery times to ethanol vapors at 280 °C.