Fluctuation-enhanced sensing with organically functionalized gold nanoparticle gas sensors targeting biomedical applications.

Detection of volatile organic compounds is a useful approach to non-invasive diagnosis of diseases through breath analysis. Our experimental study presents a newly developed prototype gas sensor, based on organically-functionalized gold nanoparticles, and results on formaldehyde detection using fluctuation-enhanced gas sensing. Formaldehyde was easily detected via intense fluctuations of the gas sensor's resistance, while the cross-influence of ethanol vapor (a confounding factor in exhaled breath, related to alcohol consumption) was negligible.

TiO2-based gas sensor: a possible application to SO2.

Fixation of SO2 molecules on anatase TiO2 surfaces with defects have been investigated by first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations and in situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) surface spectroscopy on porous TiO2 films. Intrinsic oxygen-vacancy defects, which are formed on TiO2(001) and TiO2(101) surfaces by ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation and at elevated temperatures, are found to be most effective in anchoring the SO2 gas molecules to the TiO2 surfaces. Both TiO2(101) and TiO2(001) surfaces with oxygen vacancies are found to exhibit higher SO2 adsorption energies in the DFT calculations. The adsorption mechanism of SO2 is explained on the basis of electronic structure, charge transfer between the molecule and the surface, and the oxidation state of the adsorbed molecule. The theoretical findings are corroborated by FTIR experiments. Moreover, the (001) surface with oxygen vacancies is found to bind SO2 gas molecules more strongly, as compared to the (101) surface. Higher concentration of oxygen vacancies on the TiO2 surfaces is found to significantly increase the adsorption energy. The results shed new insight into the sensing properties of TiO2-based gas sensors.