Nanoparticle Made Sensors

Modern chemical gas sensors (e.g. chemoresistive SnO2) are particularly suitable for hand-held breath analyzers or indoor air monitors due to their extremely compact design, simple application and low cost in contrast to gas chromatography-/mass spectrometry-based techniques. While featuring sufficiently low detection limits, however, their lack of selectivity remains a major limitation. Here, we explore and systematically develop novel gas sensing materials (e.g. Si-doped WO3, Si-doped MoO3 or Ti-doped ZnO) with superior sensing performance by flame spray pyrolysis. These sensors are integrated into arrays and combined with filters to enhance selectivity even further. Finally, the sensor systems are tested in breath studies with humans and for environmental monitoring.