Microwave hydrothermal synthesis of nanoporous cobalt oxides and their gas sensing properties

In this paper, the precursors were synthesized by microwave hydrothermal method using Co(NO₃)₂·6H₂O as raw material, CO(NH₂)₂ and KOH as precipitants, respectively. The precursors and calcined products were characterized by XRD, FESEM, and BET-BJH. The results show that both constituent and synthetic condition can determine the products morphology. When using KOH as precipitant, hollow Co₃O₄ nanorings were obtained whose precursor was synthesized at 140 °C for 3 h and calcined at 500 °C in air for 2 h. While using CO(NH)₂, Co₃O₄ like-nanochains were obtained whose precursor was synthesized at 110 °C for 1 h and calcined at 420 °C in air for 2 h, and Co₃O₄ nanosheets were obtained while their precursor was synthesized at 140 °C for 3 h and calcined at 500 °C in air for 2 h. The sensitivity test of Co₃O₄ to alcohol reveals that the hollow Co₃O₄ nanorings show the best sensitivity, porous Co₃O₄ like-nanochains are superior to that of the porous nanosheets.