CO₂ and O₂ Detection by Electric Field Sensors

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Commercial sensor platforms, typically for gesture recognition, can be repurposed for chemical sensing.
• Electric field changes can reveal the adsorption of gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2).
• Anthocyanins, extracted from natural sources like red roses, offer potential as functionalizing agents for chemical sensors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel array of chemical sensors for gas detection.
• To adapt a commercial electric field-based sensor platform (GestIC) for CO2 and O2 sensing.
• To functionalize the sensor surface with anthocyanins and evaluate its performance.

Main Methods:

• A commercial Microchip GestIC platform was modified for gas detection.
• A custom measurement chamber was 3D printed using acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).
• Anthocyanins were used to functionalize the sensor surface, and the system was interfaced with an ATMEGA 328 microcontroller for data acquisition.

Main Results:

• The developed sensor demonstrated good repeatability for CO2 detection.
• Sensitivity was measured in the tens to hundreds of µV/% for CO2 and µV/% for O2.
• Resolution ranged from 10^-1% to 10^-3% for CO2 and approximately 10^-1% for O2.

Conclusions:

• The repurposed sensor platform shows promise for selective gas detection.
• The anthocyanin-functionalized sensor exhibits viable sensitivity and resolution for CO2 and O2.
• This technology has potential applications in environmental, medical, and food industries.