Hydrothermal synthesis of novel porous butterfly-like hierarchical SnO2 architecture with excellent gas-sensing performance to acetaldehyde

•The butterfly-like SnO2 architecture were synthesized by oxidating SnO nanostructure prepared through hydrothermal route.•The SnO architecture employed to SnO precursor grown into a butterfly structure by orienting attachment induced by SDBS.•The butterfly-like SnO2 exhibited an excellent response, selectivity and ppb level detected limit to acetaldehyde.•The excellent response was attributed to the sufficient absorbed oxygen-ion caused by rich surface defects structure. Novel architecture of porous butterfly-like hierarchical SnO2 3D structure assembled by 2D SnO2 nanosheets were successfully synthesized by annealing SnO nanostructures prepared through a facile hydrothermal route using SDBS as a structure-directing agent. The structure, morphology and surface characteristics of SnO2 architecture were comprehensively investigated and the characterization results revealed that the SnO2 3D structure demonstrated unique architecture of butterfly-like nanosheets with the sophisticated and complex hollow-carved lattice porous structure within the surface and abundant defects on the nanosheets surface. The gas-sensing behaviors of the sensor based on the as-synthesized butterfly-like SnO2 structure showed an ultrahigh response and a prominent selectivity toward acetaldehyde at the optimal operating temperature of 243 °C, and exhibited a ppb level detection limit of 78.7 toward 500 ppb acetaldehyde. The excellent acetaldehyde sensitivity was attributed to hollow-carved lattice porous structure inside the surface of butterfly-shape SnO2 nanosheets, sufficient absorbed oxygen ions and high concentration of free carrier caused by the rich defects structure of the nanosheets.