Brochantite tabular microspindles and their conversion to wormlike CuO structures for gas sensing

Brochantite (Cu-4(OH)(6)SO4) tabular microspindles were produced via a simple hydrothermal procedure. The formation process of the microspindles was systematically investigated by changing the solution concentration, hydrothermal time and surfactant. Under thermal treatment at different temperatures, porous mix-phase (Cu2OSO4 and CuO) microspindles and wormlike CuO structures can be selectively obtained due to thermal decomposition and phase transition of the materials. A gas sensor was fabricated using the obtained wormlike CuO structures as the active component, which showed good sensor performances toward ethanol and methanol detection.