Lanthanum (La)-doped SnO2 was facilely prepared by electrospinning technique. The La-doped SnO2 was characterized by SEM, XRD, XPS and TEM. The XRD pattern indicates the polycrystalline nature of the Ladoped SnO2 nanostructure. It has been found that the La-doped SnO2 nanofibers with a rough surface are actually mesoporous tubular nanostructure. The mesoporous tubes with a diameter of similar to 200 nm possess a pore size distribution centered at about 23 nm. The La-doped SnO2 sensor shows a high response to 5 ppm ethanol. Compared to pure SnO2, the La-doped SnO2 exhibits high sensitivity and good selectivity to ethanol at a relatively low optimum operating temperature of 200 degrees C, in addition to a short response/recovery time. The La-doped SnO2 mesoporous tubular nanostructure could be useful in fabricating semiconducting sensors for ethanol. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.