Biomorphic synthesis of hollow CuO fibers for low-ppm-level n-propanol detection via a facile solution combustion method

Hollow CuO fibers were successfully fabricated using a facile solution combustion method by incorporating cotton fibers as biotemplate. XRD patterns along with Rietveld refinement confirm the formation of CuO with monoclinic phase. The length of the as-synthesized CuO fibers is at micrometer scale, and the average fiber diameter ranges from several nanometers up to order of micrometers. After combustion reaction, a large amount of coalescent particles left on the surface of the cotton fibers to form porous walls of CuO. By totally removing cotton body at 600 degrees C, hollow CuO fibers were obtained. A possible growth mechanism of hollow CuO fibers using cotton fibers as templates was given based on experimental data. When used as a sensing material in gas sensor, it exhibited a superior sensitivity and good selectivity toward low-ppm-level (1-100 ppm) n-propanol. Theses findings not only provide a novel approach to fabricate hollow CuO fibers via a solution combustion route, but also explore a promising gas sensor toward n-propanol. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.