Synthesis of polyhedral ZnSnO3 microcrystals with controlled exposed facets and their selective gas-sensing properties

A research was conducted under a low-cost and convenient process for the mass synthesis of uniform octahedral, truncated octahedral, and 14-faceted polyhedral ZnSno3 microcrystals at low temperature. Zinc acetate and tin tetrachloride were used as starting materials without further purification. The starting materials were dissolved in distilled water to form two individual transparent solutions. In a typical synthesis, a solution of SnCl4 in water was added to a solution of ZnAc2 at room temperature with vigorous agitation. The crystal structure of ZnSno3 microsrystals was determined by X-ray diffraction, while the morphologies of the as-synthesized products were further investigated by field-emission SEM. The ZnSno3 microcrystal-based gas sensors also were fabricated by coating the ZnSno 3 powder onto the ceramic tubes of the sensor body without an additional annealing process.