Gas-sensing properties of sensors based on single-crystalline SnO2 nanorods prepared by a simple molten-salt method

Sensors were fabricated by using single-crystalline SnO2 nanorods prepared by a molten-salt method and their gas-sensing properties were investigated. It was found that the gas-sensing properties were dependent on the preparing conditions. The sensor based on the SnO2 nanorods prepared with NP10 as a surfactant (sensor B) showed better performance than that with NP5 as a surfactant (sensor A). The two type sensors showed high response to volatile gases containing N or O atoms while showed low response to other volatile gases. The sensors showed good gas-sensing characters such as short response and recovery time, and a low detection limit. Especially, the response of sensor B to 1 ppm triethylamine attained 3.0 when operating at 350 °C.