Portable Low-Cost Electronic Nose Based on Surface Acoustic Wave Sensors for the Detection of BTX Vapors in Air

Abstract

A portable electronic nose based on surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors is proposed in this work to detect toxic chemicals, which have a great potential to threaten the surrounding natural environment or adversely affect the health of people. We want to emphasize that ferrite nanoparticles, decorated (Au, Pt, Pd) and undecorated, have been used as sensitive coatings for the first time in these types of sensors. Furthermore, the proposed electronic nose incorporates signal conditioning and acquisition and transmission modules. The electronic nose was tested to low concentrations of benzene, toluene, and xylene, exhibiting excellent performance in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, and response time, indicating its potential as a monitoring system that can contribute to the detection of toxic compounds.

Monitoring the BTEX Volatiles during 3D Printing with Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) Using Electronic Nose and Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometry

“…However, in order to give the user of the consumer-grade 3D printer a timely, binary indication of whether a threshold concentration value of BTEX compounds has been exceeded, the proposed solution has to be available for the fraction of the price of the 3D printer itself. To this end, chemical gas sensors could be used, as demonstrated in previous studies in which metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) and surface acoustic wave sensors were employed with good results to detect BTEX compounds in the air [ 17 , 18 ]. While the commercially available sensors lack the sensitivity and specificity necessary to directly measure the concentration of benzene in 3D printing fumes, their response signals to the complex mixture of VOCs could be indirectly linked to a reference concentration of a target analyte determined using other methods by means of machine learning techniques.…”

An Overview of Artificial Olfaction Systems with a Focus on Surface Plasmon Resonance for the Analysis of Volatile Organic Compounds

“…They expanded the choice of coatings for the SAW sensors and improved the sensor to sensor reproducibility for a certain coating material. Matatagui et al [86] recently designed a portable low-cost eN based on SAW sensors and using ferrite nanoparticles as sensing materials for the detection of BTX (benzene, toluene and xylene), which are hazardous gases. Panigrahi et al [87] worked on the detection of a VOC associated with Salmonella contamination in meat using a QCM system coated with synthetic polypeptides.…”

Love Wave Sensors with Silver Modified Polypyrrole Nanoparticles for VOCs Monitoring

“…The sensing test was performed over a 10 days period with a continuous operation of 10 h per day. The sensor response was measured using an electronic measurement system equipped with an amplifier, directional coupler and frequency counter [18]. The response (frequency shift) was defined as the difference in the resonant frequency produced by the exposure of the sensors to dry/humid air and the target analyte.…”