Fabrication and characterization of VOC sensor array based on SnO2 and ZnO nanoparticles functionalized by metalloporphyrins

Abstract

Abstract A volatile organic compound (VOC) sensor array based on metal oxide nanoparticles (MOX NPs) functionalized by metalloporphyrins (MPPs) was demonstrated. The VOC sensor array was composed of four single sensors based on SnO2 NPs/cobalt-porphyrin, SnO2 NPs/zinc-porphyrin, SnO2 NPs/nickel-porphyrin and ZnO NPs/cobalt-porphyrin. The MOX NP/MPP-based sensors were fabricated by drop-casting the MOX NPs dispersion and MPPs solution onto a MEMS platform. The fabricated sensor successfully detected toluene at a concentration as low as 20 ppb, which is below the limit detection concentration of previously reported porphyrin-based VOC sensor arrays. We also confirmed the selectivity between benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) by using principal component analysis in contrast to previous studies on MOX/MPP-based sensor. BTEX was classified from 1 to 9 ppm at a resolution of 2 ppm, and the sensor array showed stable performance even after considerable impact.

Keywords

• Volatile organic compound
• Metal oxide
• Porphyrin
• Gas sensor array
• Principle component analysis