Preparation and gas sensing performances of palladium surface-modified flower-like SnO2 nanopowders

► Flower-like SnO2 nanoparticles consisted of nanorods of 40 nm in diameter and 100 nm in length. ► SnO2 nanopowders were surface modified with palladium via dipping. ► The sensitivity of 0.3 wt% Pd modified SnO2sensor was 21 for 70 μL/L ethanol gas at 250 °C. ► Response and recovery times of 0.3 wt% Pd modified SnO2sensor were 3 and 20 s, respectively.