Preparation and H2S Gas-Sensing Performances of Coral-Like SnO2-CuO Nanocomposite

Nanocomposites composed of SnO2 and CuO were prepared by hydrothermal method. The microstructures of obtained SnO2-CuO powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and nitrogen adsorption-desorption test. The results show that the nanocomposites exhibited coral-like nanostructure, and the average crystalline size of SnO2 was 12 nm. The specific surface area of the four samples, SnO2-0.2CuO, SnO2-0.5CuO, SnO2-1.0CuO and SnO2-2.0CuO are 72.97, 58.77, 49.72 and 54.95 m(2)/g, respectively. The gas-sensing performance of the four samples to ethanol, formaldehyde and H2S was studied. The sensor of SnO2-0.5CuO exhibited high response to hydrogen sulfide (4173 to 10 ppm H2S, where ppm represent 10(-6)), and low response to ethanol and formaldehyde. The good selectivity exhibited that the SnO2-0.5CuO nanocomposite can be a promising candidate for highly sensitive and selective gas-sensing material to H2S.