Synthesis of SnO2 Nanoparticles via Hydrothermal Method and Their Gas Sensing Applications for Ethylene Detection

Abstract Tin oxide (SnO2) nanorods, nanocubes and nanospheres were prepared using facile hydrothermal method. 3% of palladium (Pd) dopant was added during hydrothermal synthesis in order to investigate its sensing performance toward ethylene gas. For ethylene gas sensing characterization, SnO2 nanostructures (NSs) with different crystallite sizes, and with and without Pd dopant produced by hydrothermal method were analyzed for gas sensing properties towards the low concentrations of ethylene gas. From the analysis, it can be found that, SnO2 NSs with the smallest crystallite size (H1) exhibited high sensitivity (28.69), fast response time (20s) compared to SnO2 NSs with larger crystallite size. For Pd dopant effect, the sensing performances in terms of sensitivity, optimum operating temperature, response and recovery times and reversibility were greatly improved compared to SnO2 NSs without Pd which indicates its excellent potential application as the gas sensor for ethylene gas detection.