Synthesis of hollow SnO2 nanobelts and their application in acetone sensor

Hollow tin oxide (SnO2) nanobelts have been synthesized through a facile single capillary electrospinning method, and characterized by XRD, Raman, SEM, TEM and BET analysis. SnO2 hollow nanobelts exhibit excellent sensing performances to acetone at 260°C. The response is up to 6.7 when the sensor is exposed to 5ppm acetone. The response and recovery times are about 38 and 9s, respectively. The sensor can detect acetone down to 5ppm and up to 50,000ppm. These results demonstrate that SnO2 hollow nanobelts can be used as the sensing material for fabricating high performance acetone sensors. The formation mechanism of the hollow nanobelts is also discussed, which is attributed to solvent evaporation rate, phase separation and collapse. [Display omitted] •SnO2 hollow nanobelts are synthesized by electrospinning method.•The SnO2 hollow nanobelts are thin and uniform.•The sensor exhibits excellent sensing performance for acetone detection.•The formation mechanism of SnO2 hollow nanobelts is attributed to solvent evaporation rate, phase separation and collapse.