Electrospun Granular Hollow SnO₂ Nanofibers Hydrogen Gas Sensors Operating at Low Temperatures

In this paper, we present H₂ gas sensors based on hollow and filled, well-aligned electrospun SnO₂ nanofibers, operating at a low temperature of 150 °C. SnO₂ nanofibers with diameters ranging from 80 to 400 nm have been successfully synthesized in which the diameter of the nanofibers can be controlled by adjusting the concentration of polyacrylonitrile in the solution for electrospinning. The presence of this polymer results in the formation of granular walls for the nanofibers. We discussed the correlation between nanofibers morphology, structure, oxygen vacancy contents and the gas sensing performances. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis revealed that the granular hollow SnO₂ nanofibers, which show the highest responses, contain a significant number of oxygen vacancies, which are favorable for gas sensor operating at low temperatures