Yolk-shell nanostructures with high specific surface area and more active areas become the development direction of gas sensors. In this work, yolk-shell SnO2/Au/Fe2O3 nanoboxes with specific surface area of 38.3 m(2) g(-1) were successfully prepared. The size of Fe2O3 nanocubes was about 300 nm, the thickness of SnO2 was about 20 nm and the diameter of Au nanoparticles was about 12 nm. Benefiting from the distinctive structure and catalytic activity of precious metals, the as-prepared SnO2/Au/Fe(2)O(3 )yolk-shell nanostructures showed outstanding response to triethylamine (TEA) gas at 240 degrees C. The response value to 100 ppm TEA gas was 126.84, which was about 6 times and 14 times of the Au/Fe2O3 and Fe2O3 samples. In addition, yolk-shell SnO2/Au/Fe(2)O(3 )nanoboxes also exhibited a low detection limit (50 ppb), good response and recovery character (7/10 s). This experiment provided novel ideas for the design of new nanostructures for gas sensors.