Preparation, characterization and gas sensing properties of Pr-doped ZnO/SnO2 nanoflowers

ZnO/SnO2 and Pr-doped ZnO/SnO2 nanoflowers were fabricated through a facile two-step method. The samples were characterized by XRD, EDX, XPS, SEM and TEM analysis. The gas sensing behaviors of the sensors were systematically investigated. Compared with ZnO/SnO2 samples, Pr-doped ZnO/SnO2 exhibit improved sensing performance at 200 °C, and the sensors was proved to be excellent in selectivity to methanol. The methanol sensing mechanism of Pr-doped ZnO/SnO2 nanoflowers is discussed, too. This work combines compounding and doping, which is very innovative and challenging.