Development and evaluation of chemoresistive polymer sensors for low concentration detection of volatile organic compounds related to food safety applications

Abstract

This study was aimed at the development and evaluation of regioregular poly (3-hexyl thiophene) (rr-P3HT) based chemoresistive sensors to detect the alcoholic volatile organic compounds (VOCs): 3-methyl-1-butanol and 1-hexanol, found to be present in spoiled and Salmonella typhimurium contaminated beef packages. The sensors were developed using two types of dip coating methods: (1) vertical dip (90°), and (2) inclined dip (10°). Five layers of rr-P3HT were deposited on tin interdigitated flame retardant FR4 substrates. The morphological studies revealed that the rr-P3HT sensors developed with the inclined dip coating method had formed relatively smooth thin-film of rr-P3HT than sensors developed using the vertical dip coating method. The sensitivities of the vertical dip and inclined dip coated sensors were found to be repeatable for the same concentration and were also reproducible among different sensors for same VOC. The sensors exhibited selective response to trace level concentrations of 3-methyl-1-butanol and 1-hexanol, with a lower detection limit of about 10 and 15 ppm, respectively.

Synthesis, Characteristics and Aliphatic Alcohol Sensing Behavior of Poly(m–aminophenol)/Sulfonic Acid‐Functionalized Multi‐Walled Carbon Nanotube Composite

“…Among those VOCs, the detection and quantization of specific aliphatic alcohols is necessary for monitoring environmental pollution and preventing or controlling the toxic alcoholic contamination in air, drugs, drinks, foods etc. [3]. For example, the environmental pollution by aliphatic alcohols have been created huge life risk in various industries including food processing industry, paint and furniture manufacturer, pharmaceutical industry, wine industry etc.…”