Pure and Cu-doped SnO2 nanofibers are synthesized via a simple electrospinning method, and characterized by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The sensor fabricated from Cu-doped SnO2 nanofibers exhibits improved sensing properties to ethanol at 300 degrees C. The sensitivity is up to 3 when this sensor is exposed to 5 ppm ethanol. The response and recovery times are about 1 and 10 s, respectively. The linear dependence of the sensitivity on the ethanol concentration is observed in the range of 5-500 ppm. Good selectivity is also observed in our studies. The results make Cu-doped SnO2 nanofibers good candidates for fabricating high performance ethanol sensors. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.