Chemoresistive Sensor Readout Circuit Design for Detecting Gases with Slow Response Time Characteristics.

Based on an analysis of the signal characteristics of gas sensors, this work presents a chemoresistive sensor readout circuit design for detecting gases with slow response time characteristics. The proposed readout circuit directly generates a reference voltage corresponding to the initial value of the gas sensor and extracts only the amount of gas concentration change in the sensor. Because the proposed readout circuit can adaptively regenerate the suitable reference voltage under various changing ambient conditions, it can alleviate the variation in output values at the same gas concentration caused by non-uniformities among gas sensors. Furthermore, this readout circuit effectively eliminates the initial value shifts due to the poor reproducibility of the gas sensor itself without requiring complex digital signal calibrations. This work focuses on a commercially viable readout circuit structure that can effectively obtain slow response gas information without requiring a large capacitor. The proposed readout circuit operation was verified by simulations using spectre in cadence simulation software. It was then implemented on a printed circuit board with discrete components to confirm the effectiveness with existing gas sensor systems and its commercial viability.

Investigation of Exhaled Breath Samples from Patients with Alzheimer's Disease Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and an Exhaled Breath Sensor System.

Exhaled breath is a body secretion, and the sampling process of this is simple and cost effective. It can be non-invasively collected for diagnostic procedures. Variations in the chemical composition of exhaled breath resulting from gaseous exchange in the extensive capillary network of the body are proposed to be associated with pathophysiological changes. In light of the foreseeable potential of exhaled breath as a diagnostic specimen, we used gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to study the chemical compounds present in exhaled breath samples from patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and from healthy individuals as a control group. In addition, we also designed and developed a chemical-based exhaled breath sensor system to examine the distribution pattern in the patient and control groups. The results of our study showed that several chemical compounds, such as 1-phenantherol and ethyl 3-cyano-2,3-bis (2,5,-dimethyl-3-thienyl)-acrylate, had a higher percentage area in the AD group than in the PD and control groups. These results may indicate an association of these chemical components in exhaled breath with the progression of disease. In addition, in-house fabricated exhaled breath sensor systems, containing several types of gas sensors, showed significant differences in terms of the normalized response of the sensitivity characteristics between the patient and control groups. A subsequent clustering analysis was able to distinguish between the AD patients, PD patients, and healthy individuals using principal component analysis, Sammon's mapping, and a combination of both methods, in particular when using the exhaled breath sensor array system A consisting of eight sensors. With this in mind, the exhaled breath sensor system could provide alternative option for diagnosis and be applied as a useful, effective tool for the screening and diagnosis of AD in the near future.

Efficient exfoliation of MoS2 with volatile solvents and their application for humidity sensor. .

Liquid-phase exfoliation is likely to be feasible for practical fabrication of few-layer MoS2 nanosheets in large quantities. However, this method generally involves the organic solvents with high boiling point; new strategy using low-boiling-point solvents to obtain high MoS2 concentration is still highly required. In this study, using the strategy of Hansen solubility parameters (HSP), a method based on exfoliation of MoS2 in chloroform/acetonitrile mixtures is demonstrated to fabricate high concentration MoS2 nanosheet solution. The highest concentration of few-layer MoS2 nanosheets and nanoparticles up to 0.4 mg/ml is achieved with the optimum composition of mixture. The MoS2 nanosheet thin film is also investigated in terms of their sensing properties towards humidity. The exfoliated MoS2 based thin film sensor exhibited excellent sensitivity, quick response and recovery, and good reproducibility comparing to their bulk counterpart. The excellent sensing performance of exfoliated MoS2 is generally attributed to the high surface-to-volume-ratio and increased ratio of edge sites and basal plane sites after exfoliation.