At China's Harbin University, researchers have created an alcohol detector that requires heating only to 140°C, as opposed to the 300°C for conventional sensors made of zinc oxide. They achieved this by building zinc oxide "nanoflowers" which, because of their large size-to-surface ratio, are exquisitely sensitive to ethanol and undergo a change in resistance in its presence. Each flower consists of bundles of nanorods 15 nm wide. The devices might also prove useful as catalysts.
IOP/Harbin Engineering University