Preparation of silver-loaded titanium dioxide hedgehog-like architecture composed of hundreds of nanorods and its fast response to xylene

Abstract Hedgehog-like titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) architectures composed of hundreds of one-dimensional (1D) nanorods and silver (Ag) loaded TiO 2 with different amounts (0.2 at%, 0.5 at% and 1 at%) were successfully prepared by facile hydrothermal process and simple isometric impregnation route. The high electron mobility of 1D nanorods on the surface of TiO 2 and the high porosity of Ag loaded hedgehog-like TiO 2 architectures enable the sensor with fast responsive and recovered properties. TiO 2 loaded with 0.5 at% Ag exhibited the highest response to xylene with low response/recovery time at the operating temperature of 375 °C. In addition, the sensitivity and selectivity of the TiO 2 sensor were enhanced markedly with Ag loading.