Carbon-dots conductometric sensor for high performance gas sensing
Shadi Sawalha,
Kaveh Moulaee,
Giuseppe Nocito,
Alessandro Silvestri,
Salvatore Petralia,
Maurizio Prato,
Simona Bettini,
Ludovico Valli,
Sabrina Conoci,
Giovanni Neri
Affiliations
Shadi Sawalha
Department of Chemical Engineering, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine; Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Innovazione, Università del Salento, Lecce, Via Monteroni 73100, Italy
Kaveh Moulaee
Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università di Messina, Contrada Di Dio, Messina 98186, Italy
Giuseppe Nocito
Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Biologiche, Farmaceutiche ed Ambientali (ChiBioFarAm), Università di Messina, Viale F. Stagno d'Alcontres 31, Messina 98186, Italy
Alessandro Silvestri
Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Paseo de Miramon 182, Donostia San Sebastián 20014, Spain
Salvatore Petralia
Dipartimento di Scienze del Farmaco e della Salute, Università di Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, Catania 95125, Italy
Maurizio Prato
Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Paseo de Miramon 182, Donostia San Sebastián 20014, Spain; Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Materiali (INSTM), Via G. Giusti 9, Firenze 50121, Italy; Center of Excellence for Nanostructured Materials (CENMAT), Dip. Di Scienze Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Università di Trieste, Via Giorgieri 1, Trieste 34127, Italy; Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Plaza Euskadi 5, Bilbao 48009, Spain
Simona Bettini
Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Innovazione, Università del Salento, Lecce, Via Monteroni 73100, Italy
Ludovico Valli
Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche e Ambientali, Università del Salento, Via Monteroni, Lecce 73100, Italy
Sabrina Conoci
Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Biologiche, Farmaceutiche ed Ambientali (ChiBioFarAm), Università di Messina, Viale F. Stagno d'Alcontres 31, Messina 98186, Italy; STMicroelectronics, Stradale Primosole 50, Catania 95121, Italy; Istituto per la Microelettronica e Microsistemi, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR-IMM), Ottava strada n. 5, I-95121 Catania, Italy; Corresponding author at: Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Biologiche, Farmaceutiche ed Ambientali (ChiBioFarAm), Università di Messina, Viale F. Stagno d'Alcontres 31, Messina 98186, Italy.
Giovanni Neri
Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università di Messina, Contrada Di Dio, Messina 98186, Italy; Corresponding author.
In this paper the first example of using C-dots (CDs) as sensing nanomaterial for monitoring low concentrations of NO2 in ambient air is reported. In the logic to support a green circular economy, CDs were prepared from a natural low cost precursor consisting in olive solid waste (OSW) by a simple pyrolysis process combined with chemical oxidation. Characterization data showed the formation of spherical CDs with dimensions in the narrow size range from 0.5 to 5 nm and charged with functional groups (COO- (carboxylate), C-O-C (epoxide) and C-OH (hydroxyl) imprinting excellent water colloidal dispersion. The nanomaterial was used to fabricate and test a conductometric gas sensor (CDs-sensor) that was found to exhibit excellent performances in terms of high and selective response to sub-ppm concentration of NO2 at low temperature (150 °C), low limit of detection (LOD) of 50 ppb, good reproducibility and stability over use and aging. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example reported in the literature of CDs high performances gas sensing material. Results here presented pave the way for a new class of a carbon nanomaterial for gas sensing to be applied in the field of environmental monitoring.
