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Mimicking the sense of olfaction: A conducting‐polymer‐based electronic nose
Author(s) -
Vaid T.,
Severin E.,
Doleman B.,
Lewis N. S.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of the society for information display
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.578
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1938-3657
pISSN - 1071-0922
DOI - 10.1889/1.1985302
Subject(s) - electronic nose , polymer , materials science , sensor array , thin film , carbon black , organic polymer , chemical engineering , metal , composite material , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , computer science , natural rubber , machine learning , engineering , metallurgy
— We describe herein the construction of a simple, low‐power, broadly responsive vapor sensor. Carbon‐black‐organic‐polymer composites have been shown to swell reversibly upon exposure to vapors. Thin films of carbon‐black‐organic‐polymer composites have been deposited across two metallic leads, with swelling‐induced resistance changes of the films signaling the presence of vapors. To identify and classify vapors, arrays of such vapor‐sensing elements have been constructed, with each element containing a different organic polymer as the insulating phase. The differing gas‐solid partition coefficients for the various polymers of the sensor array produce a pattern of resistance changes that can be used to classify vapors and vapor mixtures. This type of sensor array has been shown to resolve all organic vapors that have been analyzed, and can even resolve H 2 O from D 2 O.