An improved wearable, stretchable gas sensor using nanocomposites
Ultrasensitive nitrogen dioxide gas sensor may find applications in real-time environmental monitoring or the healthcare industry
A stretchable, wearable gas sensor for environmental sensing has been developed and tested by researchers at Penn State, Northeastern University and five universities in China.
An example of a flexible gas sensor worn over a knuckle.
Cheng Lab, Penn State
The sensor combines a newly developed laser-induced graphene foam material with a unique form of molybdenum disulfide and reduced-graphene oxide nanocomposites. The researchers were interested in seeing how different morphologies, or shapes, of the gas-sensitive nanocomposites affect the sensitivity of the material to detecting nitrogen dioxide molecules at very low concentration. To change the morphology, they packed a container with very finely ground salt crystals.
Nitrogen dioxide is a noxious gas emitted by vehicles that can irritate the lungs at low concentrations and lead to disease and death at high concentrations.
When the researchers added molybdenum disulfide and reduced graphene oxide precursors to the canister, the nanocomposites formed structures in the small spaces between the salt crystals. They tried this with a variety of different salt sizes and tested the sensitivity on conventional interdigitated electrodes, as well as the newly developed laser-induced graphene platform. When the salt was removed by dissolving in water, the researchers determined that the smallest salt crystals enabled the most sensitive sensor.
"We have done the testing to 1 part per million and lower concentrations, which could be 10 times better than conventional design," says Huanyu Larry Cheng, assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics and materials science and engineering. "This is a rather modest complexity compared to the best conventional technology which requires high-resolution lithography in a cleanroom."
Ning Yi and Han Li, doctoral students at Penn State and co-authors on the paper in Materials Today Physics, added, "The paper investigated the sensing performance of the reduced graphene oxide/moly disulfide composite. More importantly, we find a way to enhance the sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio of the gas sensor by controlling the morphology of the composite material and the configuration of the sensor-testing platform. We think the stretchable nitrogen dioxide gas sensor may find applications in real-time environmental monitoring or the healthcare industry."
Original publication
Other news from the department science
Most read news
More news from our other portals
Last viewed contents
A Glimpse into Real-Time Methanol Synthesis - Dynamic Operation of a Miniplant at Fraunhofer ISE
Malvern Instruments and Paraytec enter into development and technology licensing agreement
Are Macro Sample Weights at Macro Costs Still Viable Today? - Strategies for the Efficient Determination of Protein Content of Homogeneous and Inhomogeneous Samples
A new trick for controlling emission direction in microlasers
Microscopy technique enables 3D super-resolution nanometre-scale imaging - Research team combine two techniques to achieve isotropic super-resolution imaging
New nanochemistry technique encases single molecules in microdroplets
Process for the optical analysis of trace gases optimised - Prof. Gernot Friedrichs from Kiel University has developed a new approach for making interfering signals in laser absorption spectroscopy invisible
Deadly E. Coli Strain Sequenced with Roche GS Junior System by HPA Scientists - Provides Community Most Complete Assembly to Date
The architecture of odor perception - Olfactory glomeruli have a unique structure
UK consortium led by Paraytec Ltd to develop analytical instrumentation to detect aggregation in biopharmaceutical processing
MedMira Files Patent Application for Next Generation Rapid Test
