Hydrothermal method was generally used to synthesis nanoparticles, which was used to fabricate pure and Ce-doped (3 wt%, 5 wt%, 7 wt%) SnO2 nanoparticles in this experiment. The as-prepared products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrum (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The results clearly indicated that the nanoparticles were composed of SnO2 nanoparticles and Ce ions were successfully doped into the SnO2 lattice, and 5 wt% SnO2:Ce has a higher specific surface area (173.53 m(2)/g). Importantly, SnO2:Ce sensor had obviously improved performance compared to pure SnO2 and exhibited the highest response values (50.5 for 50 ppm) and a well selectivity to acetone at 270 C. It could detect acetone gas in a wide concentration range with very high response, good long-term stability and repeatability of response. The possible sensing mechanism was discussed in this paper. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.