Hydrothermal synthesis of hierarchical SnO2 nanomaterials for high-efficiency detection of pesticide residue

Abstract Acephate pesticide contamination in agricultural production has caused serious human health problems. Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) gas sensor can be used as a portable and promising alternative tool for efficiently detection of acephate. In this study, hierarchical assembled SnO2 nanosphere, SnO2 hollow nanosphere and SnO2 nanoflower were synthesized respectively as high efficiency sensing materials to build rapid and selective acephate pesticide residues sensors. The morphologies of different SnO2 3D nanostructures were characterized by various material characterization technology. The sensitive performance test results of the 3D SnO2 nanomaterials towards acephate show that hollow nanosphere SnO2 based sensor displayed preferable sensitivity, selectivity, and rapid response (9 s) properties toward acephate at the optimal working temperature (300 °C). This SnO2 hollow nanosphere based gas sensor represents a useful tool for simple and highly effective monitoring of acephate pesticide residues in food and environment. According to the characterization results, particularly Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy (UV-vis), the obvious and fast response can be attributed to the mesoporous hollow nanosphere structure and appropriate band gap of SnO2 hollow nanosphere.