Photochemistry-based method for the fabrication of SnO(2) monolayer ordered porous films with size-tunable surface pores for direct application in resistive-type gas sensor.

A new photochemistry-based method was introduced for fabricating SnO2 monolayer ordered porous films with size-tunable surface pores on ceramic tubes used for gas sensors. The growth of the spherical pore walls was controlled by two times irradiation of the ultraviolet light using polystyrene microsphere two-dimensional colloidal crystal as a template. The surface pore size of the final obtained porous films was well tuned by changing the second irradiation time rather than replacing the template microspheres. The monolayer ordered porous films on the tubes were directly used, for the first time, as gas sensors. The sensitivity of the sensor depended on the surface pore size and was carefully analyzed by ethanol gas detection. The sensor also exhibited short response-recovery time and long-term stability at lower than 300 °C in practical applications. Therefore, this study opens up a kind of construction method for gas sensors, provides a new strategy for controlling the surface pore size of the monolayer ordered porous film, and introduces a new type of sensitivity-controllable gas sensor.