Hydrothermal synthesis of novel lotus-root slice NiO architectures with enhanced gas response properties

The porous NiO nanostructures have received considerable attention owing to high surface-to-volume ratio, low density and sufficient interior space for potential applications, such as gas sensing. The novel lotus-root slice NiO architectures were prepared via a facile hydrothermal method. The cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and urea played an important role for the formation of the lotus-root slice NiO. A possible formation mechanism has been proposed. The lotus-root slice NiO showed excellent gas-sensing performance to ethanol. Such unique architectures may open up an avenue to further enhance the gas-sensing performances of NiO nanostructures for future sensor applications.