Development of a new gas sensor for binary mixtures based on the permselectivity of polymeric membranes: Application to carbon dioxide/methane and carbon dioxide/helium mixtures

Membrane-based gas sensors were developed and used for determining the composition on bi-component mixtures in the 0-100% range, such as oxygen/nitrogen and carbon dioxide/methane (biogas). These sensors are low cost and are aimed at a low/medium precision market.The paper describes the use of this sensor for two gas mixtures: carbon dioxide/methane and carbon dioxide/helium. The membranes used are poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and Teflon-AF hollow fibers. The response curves for both sensors were obtained at three different temperatures. The results clearly indicate that the permeate pressure of the sensors relates to the gas mixture composition at a given temperature. The data is represented by a third order polynomial. The sensors enable quantitative carbon dioxide analysis in binary mixtures with methane or helium. The response of the sensors is fast (less than 50 s), continuous, reproducible and long-term stable over a period of 2.3×10⁷ s (9 months). The absolute sensitivity of the sensors depends on the carbon dioxide feed concentration ranging from 0.03 to 0.13 MPa.     

Copper Oxide – Graphite Composite Electrodes: Application to Nitrite Sensing

A simple method for the modification of carbon powder with copper oxides is presented. Carbon powder is impregnated with copper(II) nitrate by stirring carbon powder in copper(II) nitrate solution for 1 hour and subsequently thermally treated at 823 K. The modified carbon powder was characterized using electrochemical and spectroscopic techniques. The existence of both copper(I) and copper(II) oxides have been established. The copper oxide modified carbon powder was used for preparation of composite electrodes, and the electrochemical and electrocatalytic behavior of the resulting composite electrodes was studied. The copper oxide modified carbon powder – epoxy composite electrodes showed a high electrocatalytic activity for the nitrite detection in aqueous media, with the detection limit comparable or lower than detection limits obtained with other electrochemical sensors.     

Quantitative trace analysis of benzene using an array of plasma-treated metal-decorated carbon nanotubes and fuzzy adaptive resonant theory techniques

The functionalization of carbon nanotube sidewalls with metal nanoparticles is exploited here to improve the sensitivity and selectivity of gas sensors operated at room temperature. An array of sensors using oxygen plasma treated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (bare and decorated with Pt, Pd or Rh nanoparticles) is shown to selectively detect traces of benzene (i.e., 100 ppb) in the presence of carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide or nitrogen dioxide at different humidity levels. Employing a quantitative fuzzy adaptive resonant theory (ART) network whose inputs are the responses of the sensor array, it is possible to accurately estimate benzene concentration in a changing background. The quantitative fuzzy ART is especially suited for compensating the nonlinear effects in sensor response caused by changes in ambient humidity, which explains why this method clearly outperforms partial least squares calibration models at estimating benzene concentration. These results open the way to design new affordable, wearable, sensitive and selective detectors aimed at the personal protection of workers subject to occupational exposure to benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylenes.     

Recent progress in chemical detection with single-walled carbon nanotube networks

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have had significant impact on the development of gas sensors in the last decade. However, useful applications of SWNTs are limited by the lack of manufacturable routes to device formation. This Highlight article chronicles recent progress in this area and demonstrates the great promise of a new room temperature deposition method for SWNT networks in gas sensing applications. This liquid deposition technique allows the deposition of pre-treated, highly aligned SWNT networks on a wide variety of substrates. A significant advantage of SWNT-network sensors is that fluctuations in the electrical response of individual SWNTs become less important as the size of the network increases. Therefore, device properties can be controlled by the overall density of the network rather than the physical properties of any individual SWNT. At densities where semiconducting pathways dominate, highly sensitive thin-film chemoresistive sensors can be fabricated. Such devices also have higher signal-to-noise ratios and are easier to fabricate than devices based on a single SWNT.     

Highly sensitive WO3 hollow-sphere gas sensors

In this paper, we describe how WO(3) hollow spheres have been synthesized in solution phase by the controlled hydrolysis of WCl(6) using novel carbon microspheres as the templates. All of the products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The as-synthesized spheres had large diameters of about 400 nm and thin shells of about 30 nm composed of numerous small nanocrystals. Prompted by the porous structure and small crystal size of the shell wall, we constructed WO(3) hollow-sphere gas sensors and found that these sensors had good sensitivity to alcohol, acetone, CS(2), and other organic gases.     

Fluctuation-enhanced gas sensing

The sensitivity of gas sensors was earlier measured by classical method-comparison the resistance of sensors in gas media and air. Here we reported results of the study of low-frequency noise characteristics of sensors. We compare data for different Figaro TGS sensors as well as our sol-gel H₂ tin dioxide and porous silicon sensors. The study was performed in dry air and in a mix of dry air with carbon monoxide, hydrogen and alcohol of different concentrations. Higher sensitivity of spectral dependence of noise (SDN) to gas concentration in comparison with classical method of the measurements of gas sensing by a change in the Ohmic resistance part of current-voltage characteristics of samples allows using such SND powerful method for determination of gas concentration in the air or environment.     

碳纳米管气体传感器研究进展

碳纳米管具有一维纳米结构、高表面吸附能力、良好的导电性和电子弹道传输特性等优异的力学、电学、物理和化学性能,成为制作纳米气体传感器的理想材料之一.近年来,各国研究者广泛开展了碳纳米管气体传感器的研究工作,并取得了许多显著成果.研究结果表明,碳纳米管气体传感器具有灵敏度高、响应速度快、尺寸小、能耗低和室温下工作等诸多特点.本文结合本研究小组近年来在碳纳米管气体传感器领域所做的大量研究工作,从环境监测、医学检测和国防军事等方面,对碳纳米管气体传感器取得的研究进展进行了综述,同时也阐述和分析了碳纳米管气体传感器的工作原理和制作过程.尽管面临诸多挑战,随着研究的不断深入,碳纳米管气体传感器仍有可能凭借其独特的性能优势成为当前商业应用气体传感器的有力竞争者.     

‘Intelligent’ alarm detector of gas leaks

Three types of tin oxide gas sensors have been developed and a gas-detecting apparatus using the developed sensors has been manufactured. This apparatus has the ability to identify the type of leaking gas out of isobutane, ethanol, hydrogen and carbon monoxide. It can also be used for accumulating data as the terminal unit of a microcomputer. When city gas or carbon monoxide gas is leaking, a pulse is output from the apparatus to an electromagnetic valve which cuts off the path of the gas. The use of the apparatus and microcomputer composes a countermeasure system against gas leak accidents.     

Sensitive Detection of Elemental Mercury Vapor by Gold Nanoparticle Decorated Carbon Nanotube Sensors

Low-cost, low power consumption gas sensors that can detect or quantify various gas analytes are of increasing interest for various applications ranging from mobile health, to environmental exposure assessment and homeland security. In particular miniature gas sensors based on nanomaterials that can be manufactured in the form of sensor arrays present great potential for the development of portable monitoring devices. In this study, we demonstrate that a chemiresistive nanosensor comprised of single walled carbon nanotubes decorated with gold nanoparticles has impressive sensitivity to elemental mercury (Hg) gas concentrations, with a lower detection limit as low as 2 ppb(v). Furthermore, this nanosensor was found to regenerate, though slowly, without any additional recovery steps. Finally, the mercury vapor sensing mechanism allowed for direct investigations into the origin of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) in carbon nanotubes decorated with Au nanoparticles.     

Thickness dependent sensing mechanism in sorted semi-conducting single walled nanotube based sensors

Single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) networks present outstanding potential for the development of SWCNT-based gas sensors. Due to the complexity of the transport properties of this material, the physical mechanisms at stake during exposure to gas are still under debate. Previously suggested mechanisms are charge transfer between gas molecules and SWCNT and Schottky barrier modulation. By comparing electrical measurements with an analytical model based on Schottky barrier modulation, we demonstrate that one mechanism or the other is predominant depending on the percolation of metallic carbon nanotubes. Below the metallic SWCNT percolation threshold, sensing is dominated by the modulation of the Schottky barrier, while above this threshold, it is only attributed to a charge transfer between SWCNT and gas molecules. Both mechanisms are discussed in terms of sensitivity and resolution leading to routes for the optimization of a gas sensor architecture based on highly enriched semiconducting carbon nanotube films.     

类金刚石薄膜修饰传感器在电化学中的应用

综述了类金刚石薄膜及其修饰的传感器特性以及制备工艺,介绍了类金刚石薄膜修饰的传感器在生物检测、电化学微重力测量、痕量金属检测、氢离子选择场效应晶体管和气体检测等领域的应用,并对类金刚石薄膜修饰传感器在电化学相关领域的应用进行了展望。     

Microdetermination of oxygen in organic compounds using a glassy carbon pyrolysis tube and nondispersive infrared detection

A glassy carbon pyrolysis tube holding a filling of carbon granules, protected from atmospheric oxygen by the carrier gas and an aluminum oxide ceramic mantle tube, has been successfully used for the first time in the microdetermination of oxygen. The reaction temperature of 1300 °C assures the quantitative transformation of oxygen to carbon monoxide, which is measured by infrared detection. The analysis of fluorine, phosphorus and alkali metal containing compounds is now possible. A 10% hydrogen content in the nitrogen carrier gas enhances liberation of oxygen in organometallic compounds. The method is applicable to sample weights between 0.1 and 5 mg and the time required for one analysis is 100 s.     

Electrochemically Functionalized Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotube Gas Sensor

We demonstrate a facile fabrication method to make chemical gas sensors using single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) electrochemically functionalized with polyaniline (PANI). The potential advantage of this method is to enable targeted functionalization with different materials to allow for creation of high‐density individually addressable nanosensor arrays. PANI‐SWNT network based sensors were tested for on‐line monitoring of ammonia gas. The results show a superior sensitivity of 2.44% ΔR/R per ppm_v NH₃ (which is more than 60 times higher than intrinsic SWNT based sensors), a detection limit as low as 50 ppb_v, and good reproducibility upon repeated exposure to 10 ppm_v NH₃. The typical response time of the sensors at room temperature is on the order of minutes and the recovery time is a few hours. Higher sensitivities were observed at lower temperatures. These results indicate that electrochemical functionalization of SWNTs provides a promising new method of creating highly advanced nanosensors with improved sensitivity, detection limit, and reproducibility.     

Theoretical predictions on the response properties of potentiometric gas sensors based on internal polymer membrane electrodes

The appropriate equilibrium expressions and known thermodynamic equilibrium constants are used in calculations on the expected response properties of polymer membrane electrode-based ammonia and carbon dioxide gas sensors. Slopes, detection limits, Nernstian response ranges and selectivities of such devices are shown to be a function of the initial pH, ionic strength and equilibrium constant of the internal electrolyte buffer used within these probes. Previously reported data for an ammonia sensor of this type correlate well with the theory. The poor response characteristics of carbon dioxide sensors based on internal carbonate-responsive membranes is also explained via the model presented. Future prospects and considerations for the development of other gas sensors of this type are discussed.     

VOCs分子的半导体型传感器识别检测研究进展

具有体积小、功耗低、灵敏度高、硅工艺兼容性好等优点的金属氧化物半导体(MOS)气体传感器现已广泛地应用于军事、科研和国民经济的各个领域。然而MOS传感器的低选择性阻碍了其在物联网(IoT)时代的应用前景。为此,本文综述了解决MOS传感器选择性的研究进展,主要介绍了敏感材料性能提升、电子鼻和热调制三种改善MOS传感器选择性的技术方法,阐述了三种方法目前所存在的问题及其未来的发展趋势。同时,本文还对比介绍了机器嗅觉领域主流的主成分分析(PCA)、线性判别分析(LDA)和神经网络(NN)模式识别/机器学习算法。最后,本综述展望了具有数据降维、特征提取和鲁棒性识别分类性能的卷积神经网络(CNN)深度学习算法在气体识别领域的应用前景。基于敏感材料性能的提升、多种调制手段与阵列技术的结合以及人工智能(AI)领域深度学习算法的最新进展,将会极大地增强非选择性MOS传感器的挥发性有机化合物(VOCs)分子识别能力。     

Dopant-stimulated CuO Nanofibers for Electro-oxidation and Determination of Glucose

We described the preparation of copper oxide composite nanofibers doped with carbon nanotubes (CuO/C-NFs) or nickel oxide(CuO/NiO-NFs) by electrospinning for direct glucose determination. The interest in exploring practical CuO/C-NFs and CuO/NiO-NFs electrode materials for sensor application was fascinated by the possibility of promoting electron transfer for kinetically unfavorable glucose oxidation reactions at a lower overpotential and thus improving the selectivity of the electrode for glucose in electroanalysis. The morphologies of CuO/C-NFs and CuO/NiO-NFs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and X-ray powder diffraction(XRD). The electrocatalytic performances of glucose were evaluated in detail by cyclic voltammetry(CV) and chronoamperometry. Facile charge transport, enhanced current response(at a lower overpotential of +0.35 V), improved stability and selectivity, as well as excellent resistance towards electrode fouling were observed at CuO/ C-NFs electrode in direct glucose electroanalysis. These merits are attributed to the highly porous three-dimensional network film structure of CuO/C-NFs electrode materials and the potential synergic catalytic effect of CuO and carbon nanotubes in composite nanofibers. This study may provide a new insight into metal oxide-based composite nanofibers obtained via electrospinning for fabricating novel and high performance sensors and devices.     

脉冲电势调制型电化学气体传感器

根据暂态电化学原理 ,使用微电极并融合计算机控制的快速电势调制技术和数据采集、处理功能 ,提出并建立了一类全新的集信号提取、处理与结果显示等功能于一体的“脉冲电势调制型气体传感器” .在优化传感器性能及其新的功能开发和集成方面取得了重要进展 ,是一类为常规电化学气体传感器无法比拟而有发展前景的暂态电化学多组份气体传感器 .     

碳纳米管基气体传感器研究进展

碳纳米管具有灵敏度高、响应快和工作温度低等优异的气敏特性,近年来碳纳米管基气体传感器的研究成为研究热点.概述了碳纳米管基气体传感器的种类、结构特点、气敏性能和未来的发展方向,着重介绍了纯的碳纳米管包括单壁碳纳米管、多壁碳纳米管和碳纳米管阵列的气敏特性,以及碳纳米管的修饰或碳纳米管与高分子材料、氧化物等复合对其气敏性能的影响.     

Sonochemical synthesis and properties of nanoparticles of FeSbO4

A sonochemical method was employed to prepare reactive nanoparticles of FeSbO(4) at 300 °C, which is the lowest calcination temperature reported so far for preparing FeSbO(4). A systematic evolution of the FeSbO(4) phase formation as a function of temperature was monitored by in situ synchrotron X-ray measurements. The 300 and 450 °C calcined powders exhibited specific surface areas of 116 and 75 m(2)/g, respectively. The X-ray photoelectron spectra analysis confirmed the presence of mainly Fe(3+) and Sb(5+) in the calcined powder. The response of the fabricated sensors (using both 300 and 450 °C calcined powders) toward 1000 ppm and 1, 2, 4, and 8% hydrogen, respectively, has been monitored at various operating temperatures. The sensors fabricated using 300 °C calcined powder exhibited a response of 76% toward 4% H(2) gas at an operating temperature of 300 °C, while those fabricated using 450 °C calcined powder exhibited a higher response of 91% with a quick recovery toward 4% H(2) gas at 300 °C. The results confirmed that a higher calcination temperature was preferred to achieve better sensitivity and selectivity toward hydrogen in comparison to other reducing gases such as butane and methane. The experimental results confirmed that the sonochemical process can be easily used to prepare FeSbO(4) nanoparticles for various catalytic applications as demonstrated. Here, we project FeSbO(4) as a new class of material exhibiting high sensitivity toward a wide range of hydrogen gas. Such sensors that could detect high concentrations of hydrogen may find application in nuclear reactors where there will be a leakage of hydrogen.     

Selective modified SnO2-based materials for gas sensors arrays

An enhancement of selectivity of semiconductor gas sensors, based on nanocrystalline SnO2 is reported. It is shown that modification of the surface of crystallites, forming thick films of conductive sensor materials, with catalytic clusters of gold or oxides of ruthenium, nickel, copper and iron allows selective response of sensors to different gases, such as carbon monoxide, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen dioxide and acetone vapor. These selective sensor responses can be obtained in the ranges of gas concentrations close to or below threshold limit values while the working temperature of sensors can be kept below 300 °C. The described approach for modification of selectivity of sensor materials could be used as perspective route in developingselective gas sensors. These results allow us to propose application of obtained materials in electronic nose sensor systems.