P2GS.3 - Fabrication of microporous membranes for highly selective gas sensors

Event
17th International Meeting on Chemical Sensors - IMCS 2018
2018-07-15 - 2018-07-19
Vienna, Austria
Chapter
P-2 - Gas Sensors
Author(s)
A. Güntner, S. Abegg, K. Wegner, S. Pratsinis - Particle Technology Laboratory, ETH Zurich, Zurich (Switzerland)
Pages
775 - 776
DOI
10.5162/IMCS2018/P2GS.3
ISBN
978-3-9816876-9-9
Price
free

Abstract

A major limitation of gas sensors is poor sensor, hindering the accurate detection of single target molecules in complex gas mixtures. Here, a fabrication route is presented that overcomes this limitation by combining a selective zeolite membrane with a highly sensitive Pd-doped SnO2 sensor. While the membranes are synthesized hydrothermally, the sensors are produced in a flame aerosol process. These two processes are decoupled and therefore both membrane and sensor can be optimized individually, to match the target analyte. This is demonstrated for formaldehyde, a carcinogenic compound and potential lung cancer marker. Formaldehyde concentrations down to 30 ppb are detected, sufficiently low to identify hazardous formaldehyde levels in indoor air. Most notably, the detection was not affected by interfering analytes tested in gas mixtures, including humidity, NH3, acetone, ethanol and isoprene at much higher concentration.

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