In this work, the hierarchical tin oxide nanoflowers have been successfully synthesized via a simple hydrothermal method followed by calcination. The as-obtained samples were investigated as a kind of gas sensing material candidate for methanol. A series of examinations has been performed to explore the structure, morphology, element composition, and gas sensing performance of as-synthesized product. The hierarchical tin oxide nanoflowers exhibit sensitivity to 100 ppm methanol and the response is 58, which is ascribed to the hierarchical structure. The response and recovery time are 4 s and 8 s, respectively. Moreover, the as-prepared sensor has a low working temperature of 200 °C which is lower than that for other gas sensors of such type has been reported elsewhere. The excellent sensitivity of the sensor is caused by its complex phase mixture of SnO, SnO2, Sn2O3, and Sn6O4 revealed by XRD analysis. The proposed hierarchical tin oxide nanoflowers gas sensing material is promising for development of methanol gas sensor. The as-obtained hierarchical tin oxide nanoflower (HTONF) gas sensor shows excellent gas-sensing performance at low working temperature (200 °C) and high annealing temperature (400 °C).
Keywords: Gas sensor; Hierarchical tin oxide nanoflowers; Hydrothermal method; Methanol.