Enhanced H2S Gas Sensing Properties of the Hierarchical CuO Hollow Microspheres

In present work, the hierarchical CuO hollow microspheres were synthesized through a facile hydrothermal method. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results show that the hierarchical CuO hollow microspheres with uniform size of 3 mu m are self-assembled by hundreds of primary nanorods with diameters of about 20 nm. The wall thickness of the hollow microspheres is about 200 nm. The hierarchical CuO hollow microspheres exhibit good sensing performance in H2S detection. The optimal operating temperature is 180 degrees C. And, in a large range, the hierarchical CuO hollow microspheres display excellent linear sensing performance in ethanol detection. The detecting limit is lower to 1 ppm. Furthermore, the hierarchical CuO hollow microspheres demonstrate excellent selectivity in H2S detection. The sensing mechanism also has been discussed. It can be expected that the novel morphology of the hierarchical CuO hollow microspheres may bring amazing development for H2S detection.

Automated summary

In this study, hierarchical CuO hollow microspheres were synthesized using a simple hydrothermal method. The synthesized samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that the hierarchical CuO hollow microspheres, composed of primary nanorods with diameters of about 20 nm, self-assembled into uniform spheres with a diameter of 3 μm. The hollow microspheres had a wall thickness of about 200 nm. The hierarchical CuO hollow microspheres exhibited excellent sensing performance in H2S and ethanol detection, with high selectivity and low detection limit.