Discrimination and identification of flavors with catalytic nanomaterial-based optical chemosensor array

A cross-reactive chemiluminescence (CL) sensor array based on catalytic nanomaterials was constructed for the discrimination and identification of flavors in cigarettes. A total of 21 nanomaterials, including metal oxides, metal oxides deposited on carbon nanotubes (CNTs), gold nanoparticles deposited on metal oxides, and carbonate, have been carefully selected as sensing elements of the array. Each flavor gives its unique CL pattern from the array, which is able to be employed for the discrimination and identification of flavors. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) were used to analyze the patterns. The obtained CL patterns are temperature dependent, thus additional discrimination power could be provided by changing the working temperature of the array. Quantification of the flavors has been performed according to the emission intensity on the specific sensing element. The linear ranges of the sensor array for the flavors are in the range of 20-2000 ppmv with the limits of detection below 10 ppmv, which vary with the kinds of flavors. Six brands of cigarettes have been discriminated by their CL patterns obtained with the present sensor array. The robust and reversible response of this array, combined with its simple instrumentation, indicates the promise of this array for real world application.