Porous hollow SnO2 fibers with an average crystallite size of 6.1 +/- 0.5 nm were synthesized by a facile solvothermal method using poplar catkins as a biological template. The synthesized hollow SnO2 fibers were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption/desorption measurements, and high-resolution scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that the products presented a high specific surface area of 110.1 m(2)/g and maintained mesoporous structures with a narrow pore size concentrated at 4.9 nm. The results of gas sensing tests showed that the response of SnO2 fibers was about 1016.4 and 7.0 to 100 ppm and 1 ppm acetone at 100 degrees C, respectively, indicating that the products exhibited excellent gas sensing performance towards acetone. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.