| Title: | Ultrasensitive NO(X) Detection in Simulated Exhaled Air: Enhanced Sensing via Alumina Modification of In-Situ Grown WO(3) Nanoblocks |
| Author(s): | Alam S; Ansari MS; Banik A; Ali R; Verma S; Qureshi M; |
| Address: | "Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Assam, 781039, India. Department of Chemistry and Centre for Nanoscience, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, U.P, 208016, India" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1861-471X (Electronic) 1861-471X (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Seedless growth of vertically aligned nanostructures, which can induce smoother transport and minimize Ohmic contact between substrate and semiconductor, can be fabricated by in situ growth utilizing modified hydrothermal methods. Such devices can be useful in designing non-invasive ultrasensitive hand-held sensors for diagnostic identification of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled air, offering pain-free and easier detection of long-term diseases such as asthma. In the present work, WO(3) nanoblocks, with a high surface area and porosity, have been grown directly over transparent conducting oxide to minimize Ohmic resistance, facilitating smoother electron transfer and enhanced current response. Further modification with porous alumina (gamma-Al(2) O(3) ), by electrodeposition, resulted in the selective and ultrasensitive detection of NO(X) in simulated exhaled air. Crystal phase purity of as-fabricated pristine as well modified samples is validated with X-ray diffraction analysis. Morphological and microstructural analyses reveal the successful deposition of porous alumina over the surface of WO(3) . Improved surface area and porosity is presented by porous alumina in the modified WO(3) device, suggesting more active sites for the gas molecules to get adsorbed and diffuse through the pores. Oxygen vacancies, which are detrimental in the transport phenomenon in the presented sensors, have been studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis. Gas sensing studies have been performed by fabricating chemiresistor devices based on bare WO(3) and Al(2) O(3) -modified WO(3) . The higher sensitivity for NO(X) gas in case of gamma-Al(2) O(3) -modified WO(3) based devices, as compared to bare WO(3) -based devices, is attributed to the better surface area and charge transport kinetics. The presented device strategy offers crucial understanding in the design and development of non-invasive, hand-held devices for NO gas present in the human breath, with potential application in medical diagnostics" |
| Keywords: | Asthma Nitrogen Oxides Non-invasive Simulated Exhaled Breath and Chemiresistor Device Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs); |
| Notes: | "PubMed-not-MEDLINEAlam, Suhaib Ansari, Mohammad Shaad Banik, Avishek Ali, Rafat Verma, Sandeep Qureshi, Mohammad eng SERB/EMR/2016/005123/Department of Science and Technology/ J C Bose Fellowship/Science and Engineering Research Board/ NPDF/DST/ NANOMISSION/DST/ Germany 2019/08/20 Chem Asian J. 2019 Dec 13; 14(24):4673-4680. doi: 10.1002/asia.201900699. Epub 2019 Aug 27" |
