Synthesis, characterization, and gas-sensing properties of macroporous Ag/SnO2 composite by a template method

Abstract Macroporous SnO2 (M − SnO2) materials with high specific surface area were synthesized by template method. In order to further improve the gas sensing performance of the sensor, Ag modified macroporous SnO2 (M-Ag/SnO2) gas sensing materials were finally prepared. The morphology, valence state and crystal structure of the samples were characterized by SEM, XRD, TEM, UV–Vis and XPS. The characterization results indicated that the macroporous gas sensing materials were successfully synthesized, and there were Ag nanoparticles in the samples. The gas sensing test showed that, compared with pure SnO2 (180), the gas sensitive response value of M − SnO2 with high specific surface area is 600, which is about 3.33 times than that of pure SnO2. Moreover, M-Ag/SnO2 sensor exhibits higher response value (830) to 10000 ppm ethanol gas at 260 °C, which was 4.61 times higher than that of pure SnO2 nanoparticles. This outstanding gas sensing properties are derived from the high specific surface area and catalytic activity of the M-Ag/SnO2 materials. More importantly, the great reversibility and repeatability of the material makes it have a broad application prospect in designing high performance ethanol sensors.