Hydrothermal synthesis of flower-like SnO2 architectures with superior gas sensing properties

Nanomaterials with three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical architectures often exhibit good functional properties. In current work, flower-like SnO2 architectures self-assembled by aggregative nanosheets have been successfully synthesized via a simple yet facile hydrothermal method. Interestingly, it is found that the obtained sample shows excellent gas sensing performances towards ethanol and this is owing to that nano-petal can provide many quick passages to absorb and desorb gas. Moreover, a possible growth mechanism of this novel structure has been proposed. Such an unexpected morphology holds substantial promise for rendering SnO2 as an excellent gas sensing material. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.