Fabrication of hollow In2O3–ZnO microtubules by a simple biotemplate method and their gas-sensing properties

Biomorphic In2O3–ZnO hollow microtubules were synthesized by using cotton as template and followed by calcination. This environmental-friendly method using biomaterials as templates can be used to synthesize metal oxide semiconductor materials with specific morphologies. The structural and microscopy characterization were carried out with X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The SEM images display the porous structure of the as-obtained hollow microtubules, which is beneficial to increase gas sensing properties of materials. Gas sensors based on In2O3-doped ZnO hollow microtubules were investigated and the test results demonstrate the excellent acetone sensing properties of such porous materials. The response of In2O3–ZnO hollow microtubule sensors to 100 ppm acetone at the optimum temperature of 300 °C is 62.5, meanwhile the response and recovery times are 3 and 7 s, respectively. Moreover, even at 0.1 ppm of acetone detectable response can be observed, and the value is 2.82. At the same time the sensors have selectivity to acetone.