Facile synthesis of Ni-doped SnO2 nanorods and their high gas sensitivity to isopropanol

In this work, pure SnO2 and Ni-doped SnO2 nanorods were synthesized through a one-step template-free hydrothermal method and then used to detect isopropanol. Sensors fabricated with the Ni-doped SnO2 nanocomposites showed the best gas sensing performance when the Ni doping amount was 1.5 mol.%. The response reached 250 at 225 °C, which was approximately 8.3 times higher than that of the pure SnO2 nanorods. The limit of detection for isopropanol was as low as 10 ppb at the optimum working temperature. In addition, it also displayed good selectivity and excellent reproducibility. It is believed that the enhanced isopropanol sensing behavior benefit from the increased oxygen defects and larger specific surface area by Ni doping.