Porous SnO₂ nanoflowers derived from tin sulfide precursors as high performance gas sensors

SnO₂ has been confirmed to be a potential sensor to many toxic volatile gases. We report here the synthesis of porous SnO₂ nanoflowers by in situ oxidization of SnS and SnS₂ precursors with similar morphologies. The as-synthesized SnO₂ products were characterized by FESEM, XRD, TEM, UV-vis spectrometry, fluorescence spectrometry and the nitrogen adsorption-desorption technique. Configured as resistor-type chemical sensors, the as-synthesized SnO₂ products exhibited excellent sensitivity and fast response/recovery times towards different gases including ethanol, methanol, methanal and acetone. After Pt nanoparticles were loaded, their sensing properties were dramatically increased, indicating their promising applications in detecting toxic volatile organic materials.