The state-of-the-art diabetes diagnosis is concerned with developing non-invasive nano-enabled exhaled breath-acetone detection strategies. Here, we detail the potential of polypyrrole(PPy)– Silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) ternary nanocomposites (NCs) for monitoring low-trace of acetone in human breath for diabetes diagnosis. The PPy–Ag/AgCl NCs were synthesized through in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline by silver nitrate in the presence of hydrochloric acid. The morphological analysis revealed the existence of spherical Ag/AgCl nanoparticles (~50 nm diameter) embedded in PPy matrix of nano fibrillar morphology (~20 nm diameter). The structural investigations confirm the co-existence of PPy, Ag and AgCl nanoparticles in the ternary nanocomposite. The NC exhibited manifold superior sensing performance towards low trace (as low as ~1 ppm) of breath-acetone with excellent sensitivity (~ 20%), prompt response (~20s), fast recovery (~100s), linear detecting range, and high repeatability at room temperature compared to pristine PPy. It is attributed to synergistic effects in ternary NC due to physicochemical merits of all precursors. Moreover, it showed high stability and selectivity towards acetone in the presence of prominent interfering VOCs and varying humidity. It opens a new window for non-invasive, economic, energy-efficient and point-of-care sensors for diagnosing diabetes in humans and, revolutionizing clinical diagnostics and personal healthcare.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.