Synthesis of SnO2 hollow microspheres from ultrasonic atomization and their role in hydrogen sensing

Nanostructured SnO2 hollow microspheres were synthesized using ultrasonic atomization technique. It is interesting that hollow microspheres could be prepared from ultrasonic atomization technique without any aid of template and surfactant. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) confirmed the material to be SnO2 having tetragonal structure. Average crystallite size calculated from X-ray diffractogram using Scherer's equation was found to be 8.45 nm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to study the microscopic study of fine powder particles. Powder consists of hollow microspheres of average diameter of 0.58 μm as well as nanoparticles of average diameter of 6 nm. The sensors fabricated from such powder show high hydrogen (1000 ppm) response (S = 2379) under the optimized experimental conditions. Sensor performance merits, such as, high hydrogen response, high hydrogen selectivity, short response time (2 s) and quick recovery time (15 s) may be due to both nanocrystallites and hollow microspheres associated in SnO2 sensing material. The dramatic change in gas response was explained by the rapid diffusion of the target gas through the nano-porous structure of SnO2 hollow microspheres.