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Advanced Micro and Nano Technologies for Gas Sensing

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A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 August 2023) | Viewed by 17071

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Alvise Bagolini

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Guest Editor

Micro-Nano Facility, Centre for Materials and Microsystems, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Via Sommarive 18, 30123 Trento, Italy
Interests: microfabrication; micro electromechanical technology platforms for radio frequency switches; ultrasonic transducers; inertial sensors; gas sensors; microactuators and manipulators

Dr. Andrea Gaiardo

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Guest Editor

Department of Physics and Earth Science, University of Ferrara, 44122 Ferrara, Italy
Interests: nanostructured materials; gas sensors; semiconductors: hybrid materials; inorganic and organic synthesis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Antonino Picciotto

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Guest Editor

Micro-Nano Facility, Centre for Materials and Microsystems, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Via Sommarive 18, 30123 Trento, Italy
Interests: microfabrication; high energy physics; nanomaterials; advanced materials for particle acceleration and laser-induced nuclear fusion reactions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The development of innovative devices for the monitoring of gaseous molecules is receiving a strong boost in recent years for many applications in both existing and new markets, including indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring, analysis and diagnosis of clinical disease with non-invasive methods, and safety in the workplace. Thus, gas sensing is a key monitoring technology, and it is under continuous development both in industry and research. Small and low consumption sensors are necessary to enable mobile and wearable electronics applications, as well as diffused monitoring compatible with the IoT world. Therefore, sensor miniaturization using micro- and nanofabrication technologies appears as the main road to develop the next generation of gas sensors. Microfabrication is well established and already employed for a range of gas sensors, but new processes are under development to enhance performance and cmos compatibility. Nanofabrication offers the possibility to dramatically enhance the capability of gas sensors, but its integration with microfabrication is still a challenge.

This Special Issue will cover innovative research on micro and nanotechnologies for the development of gas sensors. Relevant reviews and original research articles for this issue will focus on:

Simulation, design, and fabrication of advanced sensors with improvements in miniaturization, low consumption, and performance;
Nanomaterials for gas sensing, including properties, advances in synthesis and growth, fabrication technologies, and surface functionalization techniques;
New key enabling technologies and device integration concepts for gas sensing, in situ, and in operando measurements.

Dr. Alvise Bagolini
Dr. Andrea Gaiardo
Dr. Antonino Picciotto
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Environmental gas sensors
Chemical sensors
Micro and nanodevices
Nanostructured materials for gas sensing
Indoor and outdoor gas detection
Micro and nanofabrication processes
surface functionalization
Semiconductor-based gas sensors
Toxic gas detection
Micro and nanodevices for medical applications
Integrated sensors
Microfluidics for gas sensing

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 4565 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Imbedding Pd Nanoparticles into Porous In₂O₃ Structure for Enhanced Low-Concentration Methane Sensing

by Xiaoyang Zuo, Zhengyi Yang, Jing Kong, Zejun Han, Jianxin Zhang, Xiangwei Meng, Shuyan Hao, Lili Wu, Simeng Wu, Jiurong Liu, Zhou Wang and Fenglong Wang

Sensors 2023, 23(3), 1163; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23031163 - 19 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1689

Abstract

Methane (CH₄), as the main component of natural gas and coal mine gas, is widely used in daily life and industrial processes and its leakage always causes undesirable misadventures. Thus, the rapid detection of low concentration methane is quite necessary. However, due to its robust chemical stability resulting from the strong tetrahedral-symmetry structure, the methane molecules are usually chemically inert to the sensing layers in detectors, making the rapid and efficient alert a big challenge. In this work, palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs) embedded indium oxide porous hollow tubes (In₂O₃ PHTs) were successfully synthesized using Pd@MIL-68 (In) MOFs as precursors. All In₂O₃-based samples derived from Pd@MIL-68 (In) MOFs inherited the morphology of the precursors and exhibited the feature of hexagonal hollow tubes with porous architecture. The gas-sensing performances to 5000 ppm CH₄ were evaluated and it was found that Pd@In₂O₃-2 gave the best response (R_a/R_g = 23.2) at 370 °C, which was 15.5 times higher than that of pristine-In₂O₃ sensors. In addition, the sensing materials also showed superior selectivity against interfering gases and a rather short response/recovery time of 7 s/5 s. The enhancement in sensing performances of Pd@In₂O₃-2 could be attributed to the large surface area, rich porosity, abundant oxygen vacancies and the catalytic function of Pd NPs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Micro and Nano Technologies for Gas Sensing)

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16 pages, 4356 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Functional Microfiber Nonwoven Fabric with Copper Ion-Immobilized Polymer Brush for Detection and Adsorption of Acetone Gas

by Yung-Yoon Kim and Kazuya Uezu

Sensors 2022, 22(1), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22010091 - 23 Dec 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2259

Abstract

The detection and removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emerging as an important problem in modern society. In this study, we attempted to develop a new material capable of detecting or adsorbing VOCs by introducing a new functional group and immobilizing metal ions into a microfiber nonwoven fabric (MNWF) made through radiation-induced graft polymerization. The suitable metal complex was selected according to the data in “Cambridge Crystallographic Data Center (CCDC)”. 4-picolylamine (4-AMP), designated as a ligand through the metal complex data of CCDC, was introduced at an average mole conversion rate of 63%, and copper ions were immobilized at 0.51 mmol/g to the maximum. It was confirmed that degree of grafting (dg) 170% 4-AMP-Cu MNWF, where copper ions are immobilized, can adsorb up to 50% of acetone gas at about 50 ppm, 0.04 mmol/g- 4-AMP-Cu-MNWF, at room temperature and at a ratio of copper ion to adsorbed acetone of 1:10. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Micro and Nano Technologies for Gas Sensing)

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17 pages, 11392 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Growth Mechanisms of ZnO Micro-Nanomorphologies and Their Role in Enhancing Gas Sensing Properties

by Ambra Fioravanti, Pietro Marani, Sara Morandi, Stefano Lettieri, Mauro Mazzocchi, Michele Sacerdoti and Maria Cristina Carotta

Sensors 2021, 21(4), 1331; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21041331 - 13 Feb 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2392

Abstract

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is one of the main functional materials used to realize chemiresistive gas sensors. In addition, ZnO can be grown through many different methods obtaining the widest family of unique morphologies. However, the relationship between the ZnO morphologies and their gas sensing properties needs more detailed investigations, also with the aim to improve the sensor performances. In this work, seven nanoforms (such as leaves, bisphenoids, flowers, needles, etc.) were prepared through simple wet chemical synthesis. Morphological and structural characterizations were performed to figure out their growth mechanisms. Then, the obtained powders were deposited through screen-printing technique to realize thick film gas sensors. The gas sensing behavior was tested toward some traditional target gases and some volatile organic compounds (acetone, acetaldehyde, etc.) and compared with ZnO morphologies. Results showed a direct correlation between the sensors responses and the powders features (morphology and size), which depend on the specific synthesis process. The sensors can be divided in two behavioral classes, following the two main morphology kinds: aggregates of nanocrystals (leaves and bisphenoids), exhibiting best performances versus all tested gases and monocrystal based (stars, needle, long needles, flowers, and prisms). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Micro and Nano Technologies for Gas Sensing)

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19 pages, 4762 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Optimization of a Low-Power Chemoresistive Gas Sensor: Predictive Thermal Modelling and Mechanical Failure Analysis

by Andrea Gaiardo, David Novel, Elia Scattolo, Michele Crivellari, Antonino Picciotto, Francesco Ficorella, Erica Iacob, Alessio Bucciarelli, Luisa Petti, Paolo Lugli and Alvise Bagolini

Sensors 2021, 21(3), 783; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21030783 - 25 Jan 2021

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3407

Abstract

The substrate plays a key role in chemoresistive gas sensors. It acts as mechanical support for the sensing material, hosts the heating element and, also, aids the sensing material in signal transduction. In recent years, a significant improvement in the substrate production process has been achieved, thanks to the advances in micro- and nanofabrication for micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) technologies. In addition, the use of innovative materials and smaller low-power consumption silicon microheaters led to the development of high-performance gas sensors. Various heater layouts were investigated to optimize the temperature distribution on the membrane, and a suspended membrane configuration was exploited to avoid heat loss by conduction through the silicon bulk. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies focused on predictive models for the optimization of the thermal and mechanical properties of a microheater. In this work, three microheater layouts in three membrane sizes were developed using the microfabrication process. The performance of these devices was evaluated to predict their thermal and mechanical behaviors by using both experimental and theoretical approaches. Finally, a statistical method was employed to cross-correlate the thermal predictive model and the mechanical failure analysis, aiming at microheater design optimization for gas-sensing applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Micro and Nano Technologies for Gas Sensing)

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14 pages, 3839 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nanostructured SmFeO₃ Gas Sensors: Investigation of the Gas Sensing Performance Reproducibility for Colorectal Cancer Screening

by Andrea Gaiardo, Giulia Zonta, Sandro Gherardi, Cesare Malagù, Barbara Fabbri, Matteo Valt, Lia Vanzetti, Nicolò Landini, Davide Casotti, Giuseppe Cruciani, Michele Della Ciana and Vincenzo Guidi

Sensors 2020, 20(20), 5910; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20205910 - 19 Oct 2020

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 2926

Abstract

Among the various chemoresistive gas sensing properties studied so far, the sensing response reproducibility, i.e., the capability to reproduce a device with the same sensing performance, has been poorly investigated. However, the reproducibility of the gas sensing performance is of fundamental importance for the employment of these devices in on-field applications, and to demonstrate the reliability of the process development. This sensor property became crucial for the preparation of medical diagnostic tools, in which the use of specific chemoresistive gas sensors along with a dedicated algorithm can be used for screening diseases. In this work, the reproducibility of SmFeO₃ perovskite-based gas sensors has been investigated. A set of four SmFeO₃ devices, obtained from the same screen-printing deposition, have been tested in laboratory with both controlled concentrations of CO and biological fecal samples. The fecal samples tested were employed in the clinical validation protocol of a prototype for non-invasive colorectal cancer prescreening. Sensors showed a high reproducibility degree, with an error lower than 2% of the response value for the test with CO and lower than 6% for fecal samples. Finally, the reproducibility of the SmFeO₃ sensor response and recovery times for fecal samples was also evaluated. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Micro and Nano Technologies for Gas Sensing)

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Other

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13 pages, 2805 KiB

Open AccessLetter

Effect of Tungsten Oxide Nanostructures on Sensitivity and Selectivity of Pollution Gases

by Fenghui An, Andrew F. Zhou and Peter X. Feng

Sensors 2020, 20(17), 4801; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20174801 - 26 Aug 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3054

Abstract

We report on the different surface structures of tungsten oxides which have been synthesized using a simple post-annealing-free hot-filament CVD technique, including 0D nanoparticles (NPs), 1D nanorods (NRs), and 2D nanosheet assemblies of 3D hierarchical nanoflowers (NFs). The surface morphologies, crystalline structures, and material compositions have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. The sensor performances based on the synthesized samples of various surface morphologies have been investigated, as well as the influences of operating temperature and applied bias. The sensing property depends closely on the surface morphology, and the 3D hierarchical nanoflowers-based gas sensor offers the best sensitivity and fastest response time to NH₃ and CH₃ gases when operated at room temperature. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Micro and Nano Technologies for Gas Sensing)

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