In this work, the hollow cylindrical (ZnO)x((Co3O4)2CuO)1-x (x = 1, 0.9, 0.8 and 0.7) nanocomposites coded as ZCC0, ZCC10, ZCC20 and ZCC30 were synthesized using the sol–gel co-precipitation method. The prepared samples were coated on the inter-digitated electrodes using the doctor blade method which makes the sensor highly integrable with the electronic circuits. The samples were characterized using XRD, FESEM, UV–vis–NIR spectroscopy, XPS, EDX mapping, BET, and FTIR. Hollow cylindrical microstructure was observed for the sample using scanning electron microscopy along with a surface rich in oxygen vacancies and adsorbed oxygen species which was confirmed by EDX and XPS analysis collectively. The prepared samples were tested for gas sensing applications. The sensor (ZnO)x((Co3O4)2CuO)1-x for (x = 0.8) shows highest response among other samples. A good response of 14.18 was obtained for ammonia as the model gas and atmospheric air as a reference gas. The response time and recovery time of the sensor was 25 s and 8 s respectively. The results clearly state that the synthesized sensor is very promising for the gas sensing devices fabrication.