Formaldehyde sensing characteristics of hydrothermally synthesized Zn2SnO4 nanocubes

•Inverse spinel Zn2SnO4 nanocubes were synthesized by one-pot hydrothermal method.•Zn2SnO4 nanocube sensors present superior sensing performance to formaldehyde.•The sensing mechanism of Zn2SnO4 nanocubes was carefully discussed in detail.•Formaldehyde test concentration based on the sensor can be reached as low as 5 ppm. Metal oxide semiconductor-based gas sensor preferentially possessing great attention due to its outstanding gas sensing performances. Nevertheless, monobasic oxides could not tackle problems such as high operating temperature, poor selectivity and durability. Here, a facile and cost-efficient hydrothermal method has been exploited to produce Zn2SnO4 nanocube as a multi-oxide semiconductor formaldehyde gas sensor. The fabricated gas sensorexhibited remarkable response value (Rair/Rgas = 23.57) and response/recovery time (15/17 s) to 50 ppm formaldehyde at the optimal operating temperature of 230 °C, respectively. The excellent gas sensing mechanism of sensor is carefully discussed which can be attributed to large specific surface area (24.83 m2/g), distinct nanocube structure and high pore size (83.19 nm).